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Following are the highlights of James Franklin's Tuesday press conference:
Saturday's game: vs. Indiana (noon, CBS)
Records: Penn State is 6-1 following last week's 20-12 loss at Ohio State. Indiana fell to 2-5 with a 31-14 home loss to Rutgers.
Odds: Penn State is a 31.5-point favorite.
Rankings: Penn State is ranked No. 10 by the Associated Press.
Rehashing the loss
Some coaches absorb a brutal loss in an anticipated matchup and don't want to revisit many of the details.
Aware of the disappointment among the Nittany Nation, Franklin did not deflect a single question, nor did he take a single one on Indiana.
He admitted the staff has gotten "less sleep," adding there have been "hard discussions" amid extended film dissection on "what went wrong."
In 2017 and '18, the Lions exhausted so much emotion that they followed up losses to Ohio State with a pair of losses to Michigan State.
"I have to make sure this loss doesn't get us twice, which has happened," he said.
Knowing many followers of the program have lost faith in him to beat Ohio State -- he's now 1-9 against the Buckeyes -- Franklin said he understands the criticism, and he called it fair.
He was also asked Saturday if the loss and his struggles against OSU is a referendum on him.
"I'm actually glad you asked the question because I wish I would've answered it on Saturday. I think it's more than fair to judge me and my staff for all of it … the good and the bad."
Item by item ...
Revisiting specifics of what went wrong at the Horseshoe, Franklin said:
n The Lions' third-down ineptitude (1-for-16) "was the biggest factor in the game."
n PSU "got away" from its identity, failing to get into enough short-yardage situations, and running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen "did not get enough touches." Each carried nine times.
n On the playcalling, which is handled by Mike Yurcich with discretionary input from Franklin, "It was not a good day for us."
n PSU was poised to go for it on fourth-and-1 on its first series but suddenly called timeout and punted instead because it had 12 men on the field and was about to be penalized.
n The defense played well but Franklin backed off his effusive praise after Saturday by saying "we didn't have as much awareness on No. 18 (Marvin Harrison Jr.) as we should have."
Harrison caught 11 passes for 162 yards and a TD.
n The staff is assessing whether it needs fewer plays to pick from in key situations, a question about which Franklin called "fair."
n Inserting backup Beau Pribula for a struggling Drew Allar didn't feel right because of the number of three-and-outs and field position.
n The offensive line, "in general and the offense across the board did not play to the standard in that environment."
n The lack of separation by the team's receiving corps remains a problem, in practice and games.
Notable ...
n Franklin said Chop Robinson, who left Saturday's game with what was believed to be a concussion and did not return, is not expected to be out long term.
(Compiled by Neil Rudel of the Altoona Mirror. He can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.)