Ultimately, the season for the Penn State Nittany Lions did not end as expected, as they were unable to break Notre Dame’s resistance and were left empty-handed in the CFP semifinals. Despite this, HC James Franklin praises his team’s talent, making it clear that he believes he has coached the best TE in NCAAF history this season.
Tyler Warren has undoubtedly been one of the most crucial pieces in Franklin’s offense, which certainly earned him the right to declare for the upcoming NFL Draft. After the game against the Fighting Irish, the coach was asked if he thinks the TE played the game with the thought that it could be his last moments wearing Penn State colors.
“We didn’t approach it that way. It was a 65 play season. Averaged 65 plays on offense, 65 plays on defense, and about 27 on special teams in a game,” the head coach Franklin firmly stated.
“And how you approach and treasure those 65 plays gives you an opportunity to play another 65 plays. That’s the hard part. Like Tyler Warren, big gangly kid from Virginia that we recruited as a basketball player and was committed to another school at quarterback, and he shows up here and will go down as one of the greatest tight ends in college football history.”
“Pretty cool to watch his total development, graduate from Penn State, just get better,” Franklin also added of Warren. “Should be the first tight end taken in the draft. Just had a phenomenal experience. I’m proud of him because he’s up to like 27 words at Penn State. He hasn’t really said anything.”
Franklin admits being outplayed by Notre Dame
Many times in losses, excuses emerge to try to explain the reasons why a team couldn’t come out victorious. James Franklin, however, made it clear that his Nittany Lions were outplayed by Notre Dame and gave all the credit to Marcus Freeman’s team.
“We played our tails off tonight and really played our tails off all season. Obviously we need to give Notre Dame and Marcus a ton of credit. They did a great job. We knew it was going to be a fourth quarter game, come down to a possession, and that’s exactly what happened.
“Give Notre Dame a ton of credit. I wish them the best of luck moving on to the National Championship. But I love every guy in that locker room. I love every person in that locker room. Proud of them. Played our tails off tonight. Obviously we made too many mistakes that were costly. Give Notre Dame credit. We’ll learn from this, and we’ll be better,” the HC stated to the press.
The main issues for Penn State
After the loss to Notre Dame and the subsequent elimination from the CFP, Penn State’s HC reflected to the media on what, in his view, were the main issues that prevented them from winning the game.
“Yeah, we tried a couple early on in the game and weren’t able to convert them, tightly contested coverage,” Franklin said. “They’re a man coverage team. But yeah, that’s a storyline of the game. That’s one of the storylines. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. But early on we had some throws, tightly contested balls that we didn’t come down with. So again, give them some credit.”