One. More. Day.

Penn State and Notre Dame head coaches James Franklin and Marcus Freeman took to the stand to answer questions from the media on Wednesday morning, one day before their teams square off in the Orange Bowl.

As both teams fight for the right to play one more game, Franklin and Freeman talked about the challenges and opportunities they face, including the length of their season, team injuries, the opposition, and more.

On Playing A School-Record 16 & 15 Games, Respectively

Both Penn State and Notre Dame are breaking school records for their longest seasons. After a full regular season, three College Football Playoff games, and, in Penn State’s case, a conference championship, the 2024 season is creeping up on NFL-length for both teams.

Neither coach was particularly pleased with the length of the season and talked about the need to be adaptive down the stretch.

“First of all, I just think you’re going to have to be open-minded, you’re going to have to be creative, you’re going to have to be flexible. And we have tried to do that,” Franklin said. I think that’s been really valuable, subtle changes that you can make to your practices or to your lifting schedule that can keep the guys as fresh and healthy as possible. I think that’s a really important piece in all of this. I think another thing that I would say is how important depth and development in your program is. You got to be willing to play guys, and that’s been something that we’ve done all the way back since my time at Vanderbilt, trying to create depth by playing guys.”

Freeman noted earlier in the press conference when referencing running back Jeremiyah Love’s recovery that nobody on his team was going to be 100% in the 15th game of the season.

Franklin also took the opportunity to talk about college football as a whole and the direction it’s heading.

“I will also say this, I think it’s something that we’re going to have to look at in terms of what’s best for college football, what’s best for the student-athlete experience? What’s best in a university setting? Because I don’t know if this is really what it was designed to be. It’s turned into that. And I know a lot of times when coaches talk like this, people roll their eyes. But I think when every decision that we make is based on finances, then we’re not making we’re not making great decisions that’s in the student-athlete and the game of football’s best interest.

“Obviously, you talk about just the differences between our team programs and conferences. I think it should be consistent across college football. I think, again, this is no knock and coach or Notre Dame, but I think everybody should be in a conference. I think everybody should play a conference championship game, or no one should play a conference championship game. I think everybody should play the same number of conference games…

“I was not a math major at East Stroudsburg, but just the numbers are going to make things more challenging if you’re playing one more conference game. So I just think things need to be consistent across college football. I think we need to look at the calendar.”

On Stopping Notre Dame’s Offense

Penn State did a good job of stopping Heisman runner-up running back Ashton Jeanty against Boise State. The Nittany Lions will have to stop Notre Dame’s strong running game on Thursday to have any chance to win.

While Franklin said Notre Dame’s run game, which leans on the quarterback more than Boise State’s, is different to defend, the goal is still the same.

“I think it always starts with trying to make people one-dimensional and to try to take away their strength. So last week, we had a tremendous challenge in stopping or reducing the impact that Ashton Jeanty had in the game,” Franklin said. “So to me, we look at it so Notre Dame does a phenomenal job with the running backs, what they’re averaging per carry, how they play up front, but now you’re also having to factor the quarterback into it, which creates another challenge, which creates more stress, and how you do that.

“At the end of the day, our focus is still on trying to defend the run. Notre Dame does it a little bit different way than what Boise State did last week, but it’s still the whole philosophy of trying to make them one-dimensional as much as you possibly can, but also understanding that the quarterback is going to make plays, the running backs are going to make plays, and you’re going to have to flush it. Move on to the next play. This is going to be a four-quarter football game, and we’re going to have to be prepared to compete like that.”

On Abdul Carter’s Health

As if Abdul Carter’s cryptic tweets about Darth Vader weren’t enough proof, it seems Penn State’s best defensive player will be good to go against the Irish after Wednesday’s press conference.

Revenge of the ST1X

st1xc1ty returns in… pic.twitter.com/nK0nzF3cZz

— Abdul Carter (@1NCRDB1) January 7, 2025

“We anticipate Abdul playing. He’s doing everything he possibly can to play. His approach has been awesome. He’s lived in the training room,” Franklin said. “But it’ll be a game-time decision, and we’ll see. But just like the guys that we’re looking at from the Notre Dame roster and concerned about their impact on the game, Abdul is one of those guys as well… He’s put a ton of like, cryptic messages out on social media, which you guys have probably seen those. I learned as much from those as I do from our trainers, but we are hopeful and expecting Abdul to play, and we’ll see how that plays out.”

On Having Former Head Coaches As Assistants

Both Franklin and Freeman have former college football head coaches on their staffs. Freeman’s defensive coordinator Al Golden, a Penn State alum and former Penn State head coaching prospect was previously the head coach at Temple and Miami. Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen was Indiana’s head coach and special teams coordinator Justin Lustig was the head coach at Division II Edinboro.

Franklin and Freeman both said having former head coaches work under them was a benefit and said the experience they brought was invaluable.

“I just think at the end of the day, we’d like to get as many qualified and experienced guys on your staff as possible,” Franklin said. “We’ve been fortunate to be able to go out and get former head coaches that are able to come in, obviously use those experiences, those leadership experiences, those organizational experiences that they’ve had, and then also get back to doing what we love…

“My special teams coordinator has been a head coach, my defensive coordinator’s been a head coach, my offensive coordinator will be a head coach, and I got a ton of assistants like that as well… I think sometimes when you go back to being an assistant after being a head coach, it makes you a better assistant. I think it makes you a better coordinator. And if you know Tom, Tom’s just been awesome. There’s not a better guy in the profession. His humility is impressive. His faith is impressive. But he’s been awesome. He’s jumped back right into this thing and is really doing a great job.”