Coach James Franklin on the win over Ohio State
First of all I want to thank everyone for coming out, I want to apologize I know we said I wasn’t going to have my daughter up here but this is the first time she’s ever stayed up past 8 o’clock so we’re going to enjoy this tonight. I want to thank the fans, I talked all week long that we weren’t going to beat the No. 2 team in the country by ourselves. It was going to take the lettermen, it was going to take the fans, it was going to take the students it was going to take our players, it was going to take our coaches, this entire community coming together to get this win tonight and that’s exactly what happened. I couldn’t be more proud, that’s one of the, I can’t imagine, I’ve worked in every major conference as well as the NFL, I can’t imagine there’s a better environment than what that was out there tonight, so I just couldn’t be more proud. This is for everybody, this community has been through so much in the last five years, and this is a big step in the right direction in terms of healing. I said this very, very early on that for us to get where we wanted to be we need this entire community together and a win like tonight, I know I’m biased, but I believe that football has the ability to bring a community together like nothing else, so I want to thank everybody. I also want to give a shout-out to my niece and nephew Jeremy and Kendra, who lost their father on Tuesday night. So it was an emotional night for my family, an emotional week for my family and although this win was big I want Jeremy and Kendra to know that I’m thinking about them and that I love them. This is emotional on a lot of different levels – emotional for this community, and for our players, and for my family. So, my daughter’s up here tonight whether you like it or not.
Q: James, sorry about your loss and your family’s loss. Can you describe what this, you talk about the program, what can this do for this team, a win like this?
A: You know, obviously these types of wins are important. To be honest with you, I don’t really want to spend a whole lot of time thinking about the big picture right now. I just want to soak this all in. I just want to enjoy tonight, and I told these guys in the locker room I want them to go out and enjoy themselves tonight and I want them to make good choices and all that kind of stuff, but before you leave this locker room, nights like this don’t happen often, savor it. Stay in this locker room, turn the music up, and enjoy each other, because there’s nothing outside that locker room that is better than what we’ve got going on in that locker room right now. I understand the significance of beating the No. 2 team in the country, a team that hasn’t lost an away game in 20 games, a good football program, a great university. I get all that. But I just want to enjoy tonight, I want to enjoy it until tomorrow afternoon after we break the film down, because after that we’ve got to move on to the next game. I just want to enjoy this win for, what, seven hours, please.
Q: James, you talked a little bit about the performance the defense gave you tonight, and having [Brandon] Bell and [Jason] Cabinda back, what it meant to have them on the field, how that played into it?
A: Yeah, you know there are a couple times you look out there on the field, we have four redshirt freshmen on the field on the D-line all at the same time. I’m so proud of the growth, so proud of the development. Cabinda and Bell, getting those two guys back was huge. Their leadership, their poise, their playmaking ability was huge for us. You know, you look at Cam Brown, a true freshman, blocks the punt. I mean there were just so many awesome things that happened out there. So, I’m just…our defense is unbelievable. I’ve been telling you guys for three years that this Brent Pry guy is pretty good, and he is stepped up. I mean, we lost seven linebackers this year, for long periods of time and our defense just kept grinding and grinding, making no excuses, and just playing. I’ve known Brent Pry for my entire coaching career; his dad was my offensive coordinator. I am so happy for that guy. I’m so happy for that guy and I’m happy for the whole defense.
A: I’ve been to some pretty good parties before, but there’s no party like that locker room right now. We talked all week long. There’s this thing that my college coach used to use: ‘opportunity is now here,’ you spell it out with all the words. When most people read it, they read it as ‘opportunity is nowhere.’ I talked to our guys about how that’s how life is. You can look at the same thing two different ways. You can look at it as ‘opportunity is now here’ or you can look at it as ‘opportunity is nowhere.’ When the number two team in the country comes in and it’s the whiteout, we’ve got an opportunity. Opportunity was knocking for us and we needed to open that door and answer. The way we answer is by being prepared all week long, and our kids prepared. Jason Cabinda coming back on defense has been a big impact for us. Not just how he played, but his leadership off the field, rallying and pulling guys together. It’s just awesome.
Q: The blocked punt, was it a designed block punt or was it a great play by Cam Brown? Could you describe that for us?
A: Yes, it was designed. No it wasn’t. Cam (Brown) just went through there and that’s what happens when you recruit really good kids from good families that also have a lot of ability. It also helps that he’s 6’ 5”. That’s what you’ve got to do. You play hard six seconds at a time and when an opportunity comes, you take advantage of it. To be honest with you, I didn’t even know it happened. I just heard the thud and from there, chaos. Then later, the blocked field goal and Grant Haley stumbles 40 yards for a touchdown. It’s just awesome. The whole thing is a blur right now to be honest with you. As much as I love you guys, I want to get back in there with my family and friends and that team.
Q: Marcus Allen, when he had that blocked field goal, he went off the field and it just looked like you were embracing him and you said a few words to him. I’m curious what you had to say in that emotional moment? In the past, you said you don’t believe in signature wins, but after seeing the crowd tonight and the fans rushing the field, do you believe in signature wins now?
A: That’s for you guys, the signature stuff. What I am proud of is how many kids came up to me and told me they loved me. A lot of times, football coaches and players are supposed to be these big tough guys but I cry all the time. I tell these kids I love them all the time. I want to thank President Barron, I want to thank Phil Esten and Sandy Barbour because a couple weeks ago they came out strong for me and this program. This doesn’t happen tonight without that as well, so I want to thank them too.
Q: Among all the plays you’ve been able to see as a coach, how does that kick block rank?
A: I don’t know, it was pretty good. I don’t want to get into ranking players or ranking plays. This is a special night, for me and my family. It’s a special night for all of those young men in that locker room. It’s a special night for the State College community. It’s a special night for all of the 107,000 fans that were in the stadium, and the 100,000 people out there still tailgating. That’s one thing I want to figure out how to do before I leave this planet, how can I coach a game like that and also be out in the parking lot tailgating with everyone else? It seems awesome.
Q: What’s the celebration going to include for you tonight?
A: To be honest with you I think people think this coaching thing is much more glamorous. I’m going to go home with my girl Shola and my wife Fumi. I’m going to go in and kiss my daughter Addison, who has been asleep for nine hours and really doesn’t care, she likes playing video games. I’m going to sit on the couch. I’m going to watch ESPN for the scores and I’m going to get a good night’s sleep because I have a bunch of recruits coming to my house on Sunday for brunch, watch the tape and get back to work. I know people think we go down to the Phyrst and get after it with everybody else but we don’t do that. I’ve never been [to the Phryst] to be honest with you I’ve been to like four places in town, that’s it.
Q: Garrett Sickels, can you talk about what you hope he learned from sitting out the first half and how he played in the second half?
A: What you really hope is that you can make decisions. When you sit guys or you reduce guy’s playing time for reasons that are really why we are in this business in the first place, a lot of programs put winning ahead of everything else, we’re not going to do this. I started coaching to make a difference in people’s lives and to educate young people so they go on and have a chance to be successful for the next 50 years. If it was just about winning I’d go coach in the NFL. The fact tonight that can not only send the message to Garrett but also to our whole team that there is nothing more important than getting an education, there is nothing more important than doing the right thing day in and day out. I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, Garrett Sickels is one of the best kids I’ve ever been around and comes from an unbelievable family but there is nothing better than when you can teach a lesson and do it the right way and win and it reinforces it for everybody and everybody knows that we’re going to make the right choices for these kids and for this program long term. We’re never going to put winning ahead of it. We’re never going to make it winning at all costs. We’re going to do it the right way here at Penn State, always have, always will.
Q: The way [Garrett Sickels] played in the second half?
A: It was awesome, maybe I should suspend him for the first half for the season. He came in and had three sacks but what I also love is he also was one of the first guys to come up after the game and tell me how much he loved me, that’s what it’s all about.
Marcus Allen | S. | Jr. | #2
Q: Tell us about that blocked kick.
A: They did it before and I jumped over. It was a call for me to block the kick. I jumped over, clean, nobody touched me or anything but I missed it. It was a little left for me. I went back to the sideline, this was the first quarter, and I was talking to Coach Huff. I said, ‘where am I supposed to be to block the kick,’ and he said, ‘if they are on the right hash they are going to try to kick it onto the defense’s left guard because it is on the uprising.’ So, me going to him during halftime, because I knew it was going to come again and I just did the same thing I did. I came clean. I went with the adjustment that Coach Huff gave me and I blocked it.
Q: What did you think when you saw Grant [Haley] scoop it up?
A: I felt so good. You don’t understand, I wanted to cry. We did it. We did it.
Q: They put up such great numbers on offense. How was the defense able to do what it did today? What did it mean to have Jason [Cabinda] and Brandon [Bell] back?
A: It meant a lot. Those two veterans have been in the trenches like that before, so it didn’t really phase them. Everybody stuck together and never put their head down. We stuck together and played like a family and we got it done.
Q: Manny [Bowen] was talking about how much the prep helped you with the two weeks. Tell us more about that?
A: Definitely. I felt good coming out there. I didn’t feel beat up or anything. Our game plan was we definitely had to get to J.T. Barrett. J.T. Barrett is one of the best athletes and quarterbacks we have ever went against. So, we definitely had to stop him. Curtis Samuel, number four, heck of a player, very shifty. He is a great player. We had to stop those two and that was our game plan.
Q: Can you take us to the final drive when you guys were ready to seal the deal, just talk about what the conversation was like?
A: Just dig deep, we do this, this isn’t anything new, they are D1, we are a D1 team too, they bleed just like we do. So it was like, ‘man let’s get it done and get our offense back on the field and celebrate.’
Q: What does it mean to you personally to get this win for James Franklin?
A: It means a lot. That is like a father figure to me. So, through the media and everybody bashing him, that really hurts us as a team. So to get this win for him it just shows how we are as a family. We are going to stick together regardless. Whoever bashes any of our players or coaches, we are going to stick together, and we are all we got, so that is how we look at it.
Brandon Bell | LB | Sr. | #11
Q: Brandon, at the end of the game the fans were running on the field. Where were you?
A: I was trying to shake some hands with the Ohio State guys. It was a tough battle and I obviously went wild with all the fans. It was beautiful.
Q: What was it like to be back out there and making such a big impact being back out there?
A: It was great. Obviously I was losing my mind sitting out for all of those weeks. And just being out there with all my teammates is all you can ask for.
Q: Was there a readjustment?
A: I honestly thought that I would be a lot shakier in this game. I told my team that before the game and they had my back and we showed up.
Q: You are a guy who has been here for a while and this team hasn’t been ranked in a long time. What would it mean for this team to have a chance to get in there?
A: I am sure it would feel good, but I am trying to keep the guys focused on one game at a time. You can’t focus on
rankings. That is out of our control. All you do is worry about the next opponent.
Jason Cabinda | LB | Jr. | #40
Q: How emotional is this Jason given that Coach just lost his brother-in-law and everything that you went through with your injury?
A: Yeah definitely. It has been a tough week. Coach has gone through a lot of adversity this week, but he shows up and gets his job done and that is him being selfless. He could of easily threw in the towel and just said let me have the coordinator just kind of take care of practice, but he did them both at the same time and that is the epitome of what all the guys are like between the trainers and equipment staff. Everybody. The players, coaches, everyone is selfless like that and that is why we were able to pull this off tonight.
Q: Jason, do you think the defensive line made your return a little easier tonight from they way they were playing early on?
A: Absolutely. Garrett Sickels played out of his mind I thought. {Robert } Windsor, {Evan} Schwan those guys really battled up front and that is where the battle had to start at, up front. It needed to be a physical game. I can’t remember being this sore after a game in a long time and I am really, really happy.
Q: Can you imagine being in this spot four weeks ago?
A: Absolutely. I think something that Brandon Bell said after the game is I don’t want to see any of that crying stuff man because this isn’t a fluke. This wasn’t a fluke win. This is who we are and who we will continue to be. It was one heck of an opportunity. We answered the door and were prepared and we got it done.
Grant Haley | CB | Jr. | #15
Q: When you crossed the goal line what was that moment like? That celebration that you just made it?
A: It was just a relief I mean just for our players, the coaches, the team and it’s all the hard work that we put in throughout the season, our preparation didn’t start this week it started like in January. Just all of that hard work and being able to assist to that success that we had tonight, it was awesome.
Q: How many kick blocks do you guys have and what made you decide to use the one you did, was there anything in particular?
A: You know, watching film, Coach Spence comes up with different blocks and we had a good block this week which involved Marcus [Allen] coming in and jumping over the guard and it just worked perfectly.
Q: How many times did you guys practice that?
A: Really we just practiced it this week. It was something from our film study that we thought would be successful for us.
Q: What was the celebration like out there for you guys?
A: It was unbelievable. We have the best fans in the country you could clearly see that tonight. Having them come out and celebrate with us, it was just an amazing experience.
Q: How happy were you guys to get this win not only for the program but for your head coach?
A: You know Coach Franklin, he was emotional after the game. Everything he does for us you can tell that he loves us and cares for us. He’s a great coach and we know we can count on him when times get hard, so going out there and just having the way that everything went tonight, you know it didn’t go our way in the beginning and just coming out strong and finishing; I thought it was unbelievable.
Garrett Sickels | DE | Sr. | #90
Q: Have you been a part of a game that felt this much like a team win as this? It seemed like everyone contributed on offense and defense.
A: I mean, the past few weeks they’ve really been putting together some good film for us. I think the Maryland game we played really good complimentary football and today no matter who was in we were making plays on offense, defense, special teams.
Q: What was that first half like for you because I saw you going around to everybody trying to keep them upbeat, it must’ve been extremely painful not being out there.
A: Yeah, you know I just have to do my job, no matter what that is, I just have to keep everyone motivated, tell them what I’m seeing from the sideline, what their offense is doing, so I have to keep everyone in the game and stay fired up.
Q: What was the mood like in the locker room afterwards?
A: I can’t explain. Everyone’s jumping up and down, I wasn’t dancing I can’t really dance but [everyone is] jumping up and down, music was blaring, it’s just a great feeling. Everyone’s ready to celebrate this win and we’re going to come back tomorrow and get ready to work for the next week.