Penn State head coach James Franklin likes to let his players savor wins for a few hours before they turn their focus to the next week’s opponent. He did that again this past Saturday, after the Nittany Lions (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) defeated Indiana 29-7 to win their fifth straight game.
“And then I did say, ‘Hey, what an unbelievable opportunity we have this week being able to go play at Ohio State against the No. 1 team in the country. What a great opportunity,'” Franklin recalled Tuesday.
“And then after that it won’t be discussed the rest of the week. The rest of the week it’s what are we doing on Monday in our normal preparation, what are we doing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, so on and so forth, and go from there.”
Franklin’s players echoed that message throughout the day on Tuesday, saying that they’d love to beat the top-ranked Buckeyes in Columbus on Saturday night — only a handful of the current Nittany Lions were on the team, as true freshmen, the last time Penn State beat Ohio State, in 2011 — but that they’re trying to keep the preparation as routine as possible.
