At the end of the day, Penn State head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] there can be some value in finding ways to win games in all conditions and scenarios. On Saturday against Northwestern, Penn State had to dig deep to win a scrappy and soggy game against the Wildcats despite turning the football over five times. And while Franklin may be happy with the fact his team is 5-0 going into the bye week, he was far from satisfied with the turnover issues that popped up against Northwestern.
“We did not win the turnover battle coming into this game,” Franklin said in his postgame comments. “I think we were number two in the country in turnover ratio. Well, we saved them all up for tonight. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like that.”
And Franklin wasn’t about to let his running backs off the hook for their large share of the turnovers. [autotag]Nick Singleton[/autotag] fumbled twice and [autotag]Keyvone Lee[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaytron Allen[/autotag] each lost a fumble in the game (Sean Clifford was intercepted once as well). As far as Franklin was concerned, the rain was not to blame for Penn State’s lack of ball control on the ground.
“No, I’m never going to allow the weather to be an excuse,” Franklin said. “We’ve got to protect the football now. If part of ball security is patentable, you have to take all shots with the top of your pads. Obviously, you can’t take on a helmet with the ball that won’t end well.”
Franklin is aware that playing Big Ten football this time of the year can lead to these types of weather elements to deal with. This is why Franklin says he won’t shy away from p[practicing in the road when necessary.
“The weather will never be an excuse for us,” Franklin explained. “We obviously need to continue working there. We don’t go inside when it rains and sometimes they’re looking at me like I’m crazy, like what do we have the indoor (facility) for?”
The good news for Penn State is the defense was up to the task and Northwestern had its own share of turnover issues in the weather conditions. Northwestern scored zero points off of five Penn State turnovers, which Franklin credited to the effort from his defense.
“Fortunately, for most of the game, our defense was either able to get a turnover back or they just played great. They played phenomenal,” Franklin said. “I think we started the game with five straight three-and-outs, which is impressive. We lost the penalty battle, and we lost the explosive play battle. Not really our formula for how we win, but again, like I said earlier, you know there is a ton of value of being able to win games under less-than-ideal situations.”
Penn State will get a bye week this week and will hit the road to play at Michigan in Week 7.
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