James Franklin discusses facing former Penn State coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca
Penn State head coach James Franklin spoke with the media after Penn State’s open practice on Wednesday to give an update on his team’s status heading into the White Out game against Minnesota Saturday night. He touched on several topics, the chief of which was former offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. Check out the embedded video for his full comments.
James Franklin Wednesday Press Conference
One of the first topics that came up Saturday was the lopsided time of possession that Penn State faced against Michigan in its 41-17 loss in Ann Arbor. The Nittany Lions only possessed the ball for 18 minutes on Saturday, compared to the whopping 41 that Michigan controlled the football. How can his offense go about mitigating that in the future?
“Well, time of possession is a team stat. So it is your offense staying on the field, which is converting on third down and being efficient on first and second down. And, it’s also the defense getting off the field. It’s both of those things. So that’s what needs to happen. Our offense needs to stay on the field. Do a good job on first and second down, get the manageable third downs, convert on third down, continue to move the ball down the field, and then when our defense is in that similar position, they need to get off the field on third down. Time of possession is about your defense getting off the field on third down and your offense staying on the field on third down,” Franklin said
Facing former Penn State offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca
What about the prospect of facing former Penn State offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, who left the Nittany Lions after one season when current coordinator Mike Yurcich became available? Are there challenges or advantages to facing a person you are familiar with?
“To be honest with you, in today’s college football, that’s happening all the time. Michigan had a guy on their staff that had been with us for a number of years. We had an offensive coordinator there obviously. That’s college football now. There’s staffs changing and people moving for opportunities. So that happens more times than not now to be honest with you. He’s got a really good understanding of who we are and what we do and how we operate and our personnel. And, we got a pretty good understanding of what he likes to do offensively. Obviously his time at West Virginia, he picked up a few things as well. But, we got a pretty good idea who they are as well. So I think to a degree it’s probably an even exchange.”
Franklin also addressed several other topics, including White Out recruiting challenges, how he handles the week after a loss, and how to get his two star linebackers on the field simultaneously. He also addressed a direct question about the status of Penn State running back Keyvone Lee but did not elaborate.
