Franklin not shying away from tough decisions
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PSU at Auburn
When Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Line: Auburn is 2.5-point underdog
TV: CBS
Radio: TOONA 1430-AM & 99.7-FM
By Neil Rudel
nrudel@altoonamirror.com
It's pretty obvious the last two seasons didn't sit well with James Franklin. Nor should they.
As the Nittany Lions attempt to climb back to the level they occupied from 2016-19, Franklin has quickly embraced playing younger players who weren't around for the combined 11-11 record of the last two seasons.
Especially in this era -- where players can enter the transfer portal at any time and find a new team without sitting out a year -- Franklin, and all coaches, must walk the line of recruiting his roster daily and also picking the players who give the team its best chance to win.
In Penn State's case, at tailback, we may see a change of the guard at tailback as soon as today at Auburn (3:30, CBS).
True freshman Nick Singleton is averaging 10.5 yards per carry (20 carries) while returning starter Keyvone Lee checks in at 3.0 on 10 carries.
Coaches generally sleep better the night before the game than the night after as they know there are egos to soothe and tough personnel decisions to be made.
Singleton busted three 40-plus yard runs against Ohio last week -- the first PSU player to do so since Larry Johnson in 2002 -- and Lee caught the game-winning touchdown pass at Purdue.
In Franklin's mind, there is a place for both - not to mention promising freshman Kaytron Allen.
"We're going to need every player in that locker room," he said after the Lions blew out Ohio U and Singleton emerged. "All of their roles are critical for our success. Some guy's roles are going to increase as the year goes on. Some guy's roles are going to decrease as the year goes on. Some guys are going to kind of stay the same."
Franklin and his coaching staff identified tailback as a position the Lions needed immediate help. Consequently, Singleton and Allen have gotten 34 of the team's 44 tailback carries so far.
After being penalized for a crack-back block on the Lions' first series, Lee carried once for zero yards and didn't get another carry.
"That's the balancing act of being able to manage all of that," Franklin said. "That's one of the jobs of the head football coach. It is not always a fun job, but it's a big part of what we do and how we do it."
Franklin sat right tackle Caeden Wallace in the fourth quarter at Purdue and has already told returning kicker Jake Pinegar that Sander Sadaydak would handle the longer field-goal attempts.
Quarterback is another position being monitored closely. Starter Sean Clifford is playing well, save his bad interception at Purdue, and freshman Drew Allar, who Franklin anointed the backup prior to the opener, shows definite promise.
Clifford says he's understands the importance of getting a backup ready, saying "the only thing that matters to me is winning."
Allar played at Purdue, and played well, after Clifford went to the locker room for treatment.
And while Penn State's offense did put up 46 points against Ohio, Franklin fairly noted that he "didn't love" the second quarter as the Nits managed a field goal in three possessions before scoring a late touchdown.
The Lions also didn't score on five of six second-half possessions at Purdue before Clifford masterfully engineered the game-winning drive.
Quarterback, of course, is assessed differently than tailback because there are more intangibles that must be considered.
Even though the fans want to see Allar, he probably wasn't going to drive the Lions down the field at Purdue, on in a hostile environment, like Clifford did.
Which brings us to today in what is expected to be an 85-plus degree afternoon at Auburn.
If the offense stalls and Penn State is losing, Franklin has to weigh what replacing Clifford will mean to the big picture vs. the chance Clifford can come up big late in the half or game as he has done twice in two games this year.
The right answer will lie in the final score.
Rudel can be reached at 814-946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com.