Penn State coach James Franklin says he has a “coach crush” on Ohio State linebacker Tommy Eichenberg and says OSU's offense “starts with Marvin Harrison Jr.”
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.
Presser Bullets: Ryan Day Hopes to Get All of Ohio State's Injured Contributors Back This Week, Discusses Penn State's"Very, Very Good" Defense"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.
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 . 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.
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.""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.
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.
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.
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