James Franklin Goes To Great Lengths To Prove He's Focused On Indiana

It’s safe to say Penn State head coach is aware of who his team is playing this week.

Sunday morning, Franklin Tweeted out “Indiana” 13 times with a photo of a quote from John Wooden emphasizing not getting caught up in praise or criticism. He continued that trend in his press conference Tuesday, providing the media the following direct quote when asked a question regarding quieting critics with his team's 7-2 record.

"Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana, Indiana," Franklin said. He was counting each word as he said it on his fingers as he went.

It was 15 times, for those wondering.

"We don't spend any time talking about (outside expectations or opinion), thinking about those things," Franklin said. "There's enough things on our plate and my plate throughout the week that I don't have time for those things."

Franklin has drawn mixed opinion from Penn State fans during his tenure as the Nittany Lions' head coach. His 7-2 record is drawing praise now, but earlier this year Penn State's Athletic Director Sandy Barbour went public in saying Franklin wasn't on any sort of hot seat after a 2-2 start that included losses to Pitt and Michigan.

Plenty has changed since then.

Franklin's led his Penn State team to wins against Minnesota, Maryland, Ohio State, Purdue and Iowa as they head into a noon kickoff against Indiana (5-4) at Memorial Stadium.

The Nittany Lions' 24-21 win against Ohio State was the critical win of the bunch. With it, Penn State still holds onto a shot at winning the Big Ten Championship if Michigan was to suffer another loss. The Buckeyes, as many fans know, remain on the Wolverines' schedule.

But Franklin didn't want to have any of that at his press conference Tuesday.

He wanted to talk about Indiana.

"I think their football coach, Kevin Wilson, is one of the best offensive minds in college football," Franklin said. "He has been since he was at Oklahoma."

Franklin also lauded the work of offensive coordinator Kevin Johns and new defensive coordinator Tom Allen. He said Allen, in particular, has "really changed their program."

And even though the media may not have been asking too much about Indiana, there was only one direct question about the Hoosiers' offense, Franklin made it clear enough he was focused on IU.

Just count the number of times he brought the Hoosiers up.

"Tremendous challenge," Franklin said. "Excited to go on the road with this team and take another step."