What they said after Penn State’s win over Washington

by Junna Base November 10, 2024

Penn State coach James Franklin called for Tyler Warren to win all the honors after his performance against Washington. The tight end ran for two touchdowns, caught eight passes, attempted two passes (neither of which he completed) and generally caused chaos in the game The Nittany Lions’ 35-6 victory over the Huskies. Warren also lost a fumble, but we’ll let that go.

After the game, Franklin praised Warren, his team’s first half and overall resilience. And Washington coach Jedd Fisch explained why he changed quarterbacks at halftime. Here’s what the coaches said after Saturday night’s whiteout at Beaver Stadium.

Penn State coach James Franklin

To win: In my opinion the game was won in the third round. We were in third place at 77 percent, down to 30 percent. I think we were 7 out of 7 early in the game in the first half. … The sack battle was a dominant aspect of the game [Penn State had five sacks and did not allow any]. I thought our O-line, we didn’t give up any sacks in the game. Part of that was Drew [Allar] We extended the plays, but then our defense was able to get five sacks in the game.

Tyler Warren continues to direct plays in many different ways, and I’m proud of him there. Jaylen Reed continues to play for us. Abdul Carter continues to make big appearances at critical moments. It was just really cool. And the last thing I want to say is that their defense was one of the best pass defenses in the country. I think they were the second-largest pass defense in the country and we threw for over 220 yards. They have given up 142 per game this season. And then of course we were able to protect the football. I think that’s one of the things that Drew has done phenomenally over the last two years. He doesn’t get enough credit for this, but the ability to protect the football, make great decisions and be precise is impressive.

About Tyler Warren: I have a list here of about 35 records that Tyler Warren has broken. I won’t go into all of them, but he’s a really good football player. I can’t imagine this guy not winning the Mackey Award and the Paul Hornung Award. I don’t understand why he doesn’t do that. And they would be proud of this man who represents their award because he does everything right both on and off the field. This is what he has done since he stepped foot on campus. So he’s just a great example of what a Penn State football player is.

On his team’s resilience after the loss to Ohio State: There’s a lot to be proud of in our locker room, lashing facility and practice fields, and that’s what we’re focused on. We’re focused on making corrections and I’m proud of my boys. I am proud of my employees and how we run our business. We value winning, and when you watch college football across the country, it’s hard to win consistently. You see that every week, excitement and things like that. That’s why we value winning. We respect winning and everything that comes with it. And on Sunday we get back to work, in the Lasch building and on the Lasch practice areas.

On the Status of running back Nicholas Singleton: As you know, I’m not interested in such things at all. You know, you’ll find out when you get to training [Wednesday]. I don’t have much more. I usually go in afterwards, take a shower, and everyone is gone. I’m done with the shower and [head trainer] Andy Mutnan is waiting for me and tells me how we got out of the game and what the injuries were. We usually don’t have much information until the next morning. But as you can imagine, I don’t usually share this information with you.

On Penn State’s execution: I think the biggest thing about offense and defense is that we were able to control first downs. On offense, we averaged seven yards per play in the first half. Defensively, we were able to stay in front of the hitters all night long and that allows us to be in advantageous third-down situations. This allows you to push the ball across the field. This allows you to be aggressive on defense to hunt down the quarterback. So I think the first down was a big factor in this game and its outcome.

On defensive end Abdul Carter: He is a disruptive football player. He was like that when he played linebacker. He is disruptive when he plays defense. I still think there’s been some development for him there in terms of playing the run consistently, rushing the passer consistently and intercepting well. He’s just better. For me, that’s what’s exciting. He still has a lot of football ahead of him. He finds many different ways to disrupt the game.

To increase recipient involvement: Yes, it’s great to include these people. We want to do this every week. It’s really nice to see Julian [Flelming] do some things. Trey [Wallace] We did some good things today and we need more of them. We’ll continue to invest in it throughout the week. But I’m really proud of our boys. I thought they played well tonight; I thought Trey’s catch on the sideline was a great catch. We need these people, so we will continue to invest in them.

Washington coach Jeff Fisch

On the decision to change quarterbacks at halftime: We had [71] meter attack, [59] Meter passing game. It was 28-0 and apart from the first drive we didn’t really do anything. I thought it would be an opportunity to give something to Demond [Williams Jr.] a chance to play a full half of football that he hasn’t had the opportunity to do before. I thought he did some really good things in the second half.

On Washington’s offensive line: We kind of saw it at the beginning of the season as none of the offensive lineman were active in spring ball and we weren’t available to bring players in from the portal. When it came to recruiting people, we only had seven [offensive linemen] on the roster and two of them were recovering from ACL injuries in addition to teaching a new system. A lot of these guys haven’t had access to the weight room due to injuries and inexperience, and I think this year and the upcoming offseason is going to be a big weight room year for them, like Drew Azzopardi, a big weight room year for these guys.

When moving from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten: Yes, this team was recruited primarily as a Pac-12 team. It’s a big change. The Big Ten is full of physical guards and defenders. As we continue to go east and play these games, as you can see, the offensive and defensive lines are about 1,100 pounds heavier than ours. It’s hard, we just have to be more physically active.