STATE COLLEGE — The Penn State team that took the field in the snow at Michigan State last weekend could look quite different from the one that takes the field in the Florida sunshine against Arkansas in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Churn, both on the field and on the sideline, is a constant in college football, and Penn State has already experienced some of it with defensive coordinator Brent Pry leaving to take over Virginia Tech and two defensive backs entering the transfer portal.
In recent years, top NFL prospects have begun opting out of bowl games in order to begin preparations for the pre-draft process. The players want to avoid injury in an exhibition game in order to enter an important few months as healthy as possible. Penn State has a few players who fit that category, but coach James Franklin wouldn’t say if any decisions have been made.
“We’ll handle that like we always have,” Franklin said on a conference call Sunday night. “I don’t make announcements for players in their situations. We’ve typically done that at the bowl site or we’ve worked with players that are going to put something out through social media. We try to make sure that all those things are coordinated.
“But yeah, I don’t make announcements like that for players. I don’t think that’s my place. But there is, obviously, on-going conversations with all the guys about their futures and what it looks like and where we’re going and how we’re doing it and who will be involved in that process. It’ll be very similar to how it’s been for the last eight years.”
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman is in a similar situation, but he said he expects the Razorbacks to be at close to full strength for the bowl game, though he acknowledged that things can change.
After the season finale at Michigan State, Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson, forecasted to be a top draft prospect, said he hadn’t made a decision about the bowl game yet. There are a few other Nittany Lions who will need to make similar decisions. But Franklin wouldn’t offer much insight into how Penn State might look different come 2022.
Penn State entered the bowl selection process with plenty of options. The Nittany Lions were projected to play in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl, the TransPerfect Music City Bowl and the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl at various points over the past month, and entering the weekend, Las Vegas appeared to be the likely destination.
For his part, Franklin, who was on the road recruiting Sunday, said he didn’t put much stock into where Penn State might play its season-ending exhibition game.
“For me, I don’t really spend a whole lot of time on it,” Franklin said. “It’s not anything that we have control over. The bowls pick what they perceive to be the most attractive teams, and they have a pecking order, so I’ve been spending my time recruiting, spending my time on bowl practices, spending my time on trying to hire a defensive coordinator.
“We have practice early Sunday Morning, our staff meeting early, early this morning and then been on the road recruiting. I try to spend as little of my energy as possible on things that are outside of my control, and bowl site selections, opportunities is really one of those things.”
Franklin said the graduate assistants and analysts in State College were already breaking down Arkansas film while he and his staff were on the road recruiting. He doesn’t have an intimate knowledge of the Razorbacks, but Franklin said he was aware of what Pittman accomplished in his two seasons at the helm.
Another added benefit of the bowl game is that Franklin will get extra practice time with his players. In addition to preparing for Arkansas, Penn State will get to continue to develop younger players and perhaps expand their roles. It’s an opportunity to even prepare players for the 2022 season and beyond.
The proof will come Jan. 1.
“I think there’s value in it. I think whenever you’re able to get practices, there’s value,” Franklin said. “You think about last year, the differences around the country and specifically in our conference with the teams that had spring practices and the ones that didn’t. It’s pretty interesting when you line up last year’s teams with their records that they had if they had spring ball or not. There’s a pretty strong correlation between those two things.
“So I think you could make the same argument with bowl practices and opportunities that you get this year and how you use them and taking care of the vets and making sure they continue to get better and stay sharp and still have a good experience and an opportunity to get more reps to the young players. It’s very similar to what you would do in spring ball and very similar to what you would do during training camp.”
