James Franklin explains where Penn State has room to grow after ranked win over Illinois

It wasn’t pretty at times and it was far from perfect, but State of Pennsylvania earned a ranked conference victory Illinois on Saturday evening. And that alone was reason enough to be happy.

And while he was certainly pleased with the outcome, Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin also knows his team still left a lot on the table in a 17-7 win. Speaking on the NBC/Peacock broadcast after the game, Franklin shared a few things the offense and defense could shape as the heart of the Big Ten schedule arrives.

“We’re getting better overall offensively. Obviously Drew (Allar) do great things. You have to finish in the red zone. We have to do that on offense. Defense, we have to clean up the penalties. It makes it more difficult than it needs to be,” Franklin said. “But it’s a very good team, I have a lot of respect for Illinois and Bret Bielemagood victory for us.

One area that continued to shine for Penn State on Saturday night was the ground game on offense. Running backs Kaytron Allen (102 yards, one touchdown) and Nicholas Singleton (94 yards, one touchdown) provided most of the offensive punch.

Franklin was very complimentary of both, as was the tight end Tyler Warrenafter the match.

“I can’t imagine there’s a combination of two backs that are the best in the country, playing behind an offensive line and tight ends that are doing big things,” Franklin said. “Then Ty Warren comes in, we can use him in so many different ways. Lots of weapons, which is great.

Franklin also noted that the defense was able to come out on top late in the first half, holding on as Illinois had a scoring streak to play for. After a series of negative plays and penalties for Illinois, the Penn State defense forced a 45-yard field goal attempt that missed going into the half tied, 7-7.

“I got better every week,” Franklin said. “The players, the defensive staff. It was a huge play before the end of the half. Then we were able to come out like we talked about because we delayed and scored in the second half when we got the ball back. So those were two big possessions.