While Ohio State and Ryan Day are facing significant pressure heading into Saturday's top-10 matchup against Penn State, the stakes are nearly as high for PSU coach James Franklin.
OSU has been a proverbial boogeyman for Franklin in his Penn State tenure, as he holds a 1-8 record against the Buckeyes including an 0-4 mark at Ohio Stadium. Day, meanwhile, has never lost to the Nittany Lions.
Both coaches spoke to reporters ahead of the matchup on Tuesday, and Franklin gave Tommy Eichenberg, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Day a heap of praise a few days before the crucial Big Ten East matchup.
A full transcript from Franklin's press conference can be found here, and we've rounded up some of the most notable quotes from his media availability below.
On Tommy Eichenberg
"A guy that I’ve got like a coach crush on, is No. 35, Tommy Eichenberg. Just a really good football player. He’s fun to watch. Physically he can make the plays. He’s obviously the quarterback of the defense. Everything goes through him. You pick up a lot of stuff off tape watching him as well as TV copies. Just a really smart, instinctive, athletic linebacker who we have a ton of respect for."
On Ohio State's offense
"Ryan Day, a ton of respect for Ryan and Ohio State as a whole. When you look at who they are, offensively Brian Hartline being one of the most respected wide receiver coaches in the country and recruiter, this year has become the offensive coordinator.
Offensively, I think Ryan is still heavily involved in what they're doing, but they're continuing to do a really good job. They are still a spread offense. They will go tempo as well, but I wouldn't necessarily say that's all they do. A lot of times they're trying to get a look at the defense."
On Ohio State's skill players offensively
"You talk about personnel, obviously it starts with Marvin Harrison Jr. We're very familiar with him. Everybody in the country is. Tremendous, tremendous player. TreVeyon Henderson, the running back.
Cade Stover is probably the guy that I don't think is getting enough attention and enough love. He's been a very productive player for them, has elite ball skills. Emeka Egbuka, another guy that we got a ton of respect for. Miyan Williams, the running back. Some guys we left out based on we're not sure if they're going to play or not, but a ton of guys we got respect for."
On Ohio State's defense
"Defensively, Jim Knowles, who, again, we're very familiar with and has done a really nice job last year, did a nice job. And then this year has taken it to a whole other level. They're a 4-2-5 scheme. You're seeing a little bit more of the three-safety look this year that he ran when he was at Oklahoma State. I think they're doing a little bit less than maybe they did the year before, but what they do they do really well. Obviously, I think that has equated to them doing a really good job of limiting explosive plays."
On Marvin Harrison Jr.
"Well, I think number one, the thing that jumps out to me is his body control and ball skills. He's got the ability to contort his body in the positions and catch the ball effortlessly. I think that's the first thing.
The other thing, he's just smooth and fluid. You know, a guy that you guys are familiar with that I think was smooth and fluid similar to him is Jahan [Dotson]. The difference is this guy is doing it at 6'3", 6'4". It's interesting, you watch him on tape and he looks like he's got good size, but when you see him in person he's a big dude.
And I think it's his consistency. He's just consistently made plays. Obviously, he makes spectacular plays, but he makes the routine plays as well. So, he's obviously somebody that we've got to be aware of at all times. We've got a ton of respect for him and how they use him."
“A guy that I’ve got like a coach crush on, is No. 35, Tommy Eichenberg. Just a really good football player. He’s fun to watch.”– James Franklin on Ohio State Linebacker Tommy Eichenberg
On Drew Allar's homecoming
"Well, I wasn't going to talk to him, but this is my third interview today and everybody obviously is talking to him like that, so I am going to talk to him. We don't really do things like that, but I am going to have a conversation with him because I can't control the things outside of our building.
But, yeah, I want Drew to do the same thing he's done all year long. I want him to prepare the same way. I want him to practice the same way.
You know, I don't think he's a big social media guy, so tune all that stuff out, get better this week through his preparation and performance, which is really no different than any other week."
On Kyle McCord
"Obviously a big arm. He's a good-sized guy. Been in their system for a while, so he understands their system. He's surrounded with a ton of talent, wide receivers, tight ends. I think I told you guys I love their tight end. He's been extremely productive.
And then obviously they got running backs, so they do a really good job. I think they're approaching it a little bit like we've approached it with Drew with the first-year starting quarterback. You know, he's doing what he needs to do for them to be successful offensively and win games.
If you look at his touchdown-to-interception ratio, really good. Really good. So I'm not surprised, obviously. His high school coach is on our staff (defensive analyst Gabe Infante). You know, we recruited him. We know a lot about him. We had a ton of respect for him out of high school and continue to. We think he's going to be a challenge for us on Saturday as well."
On last year's Ohio State game
"Yeah, I think all of us, right, we're a combination of our previous experiences. Whether you're a first-time coordinator in this league or first-time player in this league, I think all those experiences, both positive or negative, I think if you approach them the right way they help you grow.
But we've got a ton of respect for Ohio State and their history. And not just now. Like literally from a historical perspective, it's something, kind of looking at what Penn State's records were, again, all these teams before we even got here. Those things are important to study and understand. I think last year's experience was a learning tool for our entire team, for all of our coordinators and all of our coaches. I think this probably goes back to the previous question. I think we played really well for three quarters and didn't finish.
I think that's a combination of a lot of things. But, yeah, there are opportunities to grow and get better as long as you approach them that way."
On Ohio State's three-safety looks
"Yeah, I think it's the same reason people do it, right? When you're playing, say, a traditional 4-3 or traditional 3-4, you've got rules of how you account for the guys in the box. How you're going to block to the Sam, combo block to the Mike, combo block to the Will or you're reading the Will in the RPO.
Now they've got this extra safety like Ohio State is doing, like Iowa State was the team that made it kind of sexy and popular out there. It's different than your normal rules of how you account for that guy in the run game, how you account for that guy in the passing game either as a blitzer or as a robber in coverage.
No different than in some ways why it's difficult to defend the wishbone when you don't see it all year long or the wing-T when you don't see it all year long. Or now, in some ways, a traditional two-back power set.
So that's where it can become challenging is, you're having to teach things different than you normally do, which with coaches, right, just like teachers, you're trying to as much as you can teach like same as or like, okay, this is like this. This is the same as this. You're putting it into this category. This is how we're going to treat this.
This defense kind of forces you out of that a little bit and it's got to be more specific to this defense and how they play. So, you just don't have the accumulated reps against this type of defense. Unless you're Iowa State's offense who faces it every single day in practice."
