It’s a big week for Penn State football, folks.

The Nittany Lions will pack up and head to Los Angeles, California, on Thursday ahead of their first Big Ten matchup on the West Coast.

James Franklin met with the media for his weekly press conference on Monday ahead of the cross-country trip. Franklin gave updates on the travel accommodations, the status of Nick Singleton, and how he plans to get his team to start faster during his 45-minute session.

Here’s everything you need to know about Franklin’s press conference on Monday.

On Offensive & Defensive Improvements

Through the first five games of the season, Franklin is happy with the style of football his team is playing but said there’s always room for improvement on both sides of the ball.

Franklin noted his wide receivers as playmakers who have helped bring explosiveness to the offense and have all made plays throughout this year.

“I don’t know if we’ll ever be where we want to be on offense or defense,” Franklin said. “There are always areas that we’re going to look at and we’re going to try and get better at and be critiqued… I think right now we’re doing a good job of getting the ball in our playmakers’ hands.”

On Nick Singleton’s Status

Franklin said after having limited practice action on Thursday and Friday, he thought Nick Singleton would play on Saturday. The running back was listed as questionable on Saturday’s availability report and Franklin said he didn’t find out Singleton couldn’t play until after warmups.

“He was very close to going last week, so as long as we don’t have any setbacks this week, I would anticipate him going [on Saturday],” Franklin said. “But we’re very confident and I think Nick’s very confident that he’ll be ready to go.”

Franklin also mentioned that, much like last week, the situation was still fluid and anything could happen.

On Fixing Slow Starts

Penn State has been victim to slow starts offensively and defensively throughout the first five games of the season. The trend continued against UCLA, and with the score tied at zero, Drew Allar was two-of-four for nine yards passing as Penn State had 28 yards of total offense.

Franklin said the Nittany Lions, along with most of the country, script the opening drives. Getting Allar into a rhythm more quickly, though, will help those opening scripts be more successful.

“Making sure that we get some early throws, high percentage throws, getting the ball to our playmakers’ hands, being able to run the ball and get ahead of the sticks. All those things are really important, and we spent a ton of time talking about it as a staff,” Franklin said. “We’re investing a lot of time in it, and we understand how important it is.”

On Kicking

Redshirt freshman Ryan Barker was announced as the starting placekicker on Saturday after Sander Sahaydak missed two 40-yard field goal attempts against Illinois.

While Franklin said the battle during training camp was very close, Sahaydak had a narrow lead in practice data and was chosen as the starter. Barker, however, was also a strong challenger, during his first start on Saturday, made all three of his extra points and connected on 28- and 40-yard field goals.

“He’s been a guy that since he stepped on campus, he’s been very impressive,” Franklin said. “But the thing with him is, he’s like a machine. A large percentage of his kicks are right down the middle, so it’s not just the ones he’s making, it’s the accuracy of how he makes his kicks.”

On West Coast Travel

Last week, Franklin said his team would fly to Los Angeles on Thursday in advance of Saturday’s game. Discussions of travel were a big part of Penn State’s talks with the Big Ten when conference realignment first began as the Nittany Lions can’t fly cross-country out of the State College Regional Airport and rather have to go to Harrisburg to catch a flight.

“One of the things I think we have to discuss is increasing the size of the runway here and the size of the airport for a lot of reasons, for the university, for the community, for businesses, and for the athletic department,” Franklin said. “You’re talking about adding another two hours on top of your flight… That’s pretty much a whole day.”

While the travel will be an adjustment, Franklin said the team has discovered what its identity is going to be and also knows the squad can play well on the road after opening the season at West Virginia.

But decisions on travel specifics for the trip have been in the works for a long time, and Franklin is trying to balance a consistent routine with a time change and entire days of travel. With two days until wheels up in Harrisburg, Franklin is confident the plan is the right one.

“When it’s in-season, talking to all the NFL teams and college teams, you want to keep your routine as consistent as possible,” Franklin said. “But we have some challenges that other schools don’t have that factor into our decision-making process.”