Penn State football coach James Franklin instructs everyone in the Lasch Building to ignore the outside noise during tough times, as challenging as that might be.
Franklin admitted, though, that it’s been even difficult for him to block out the criticism that he and the Nittany Lions have received after back-to-back losses.
“Trust me, we feel the pain,” he said. “Trust me, we feel it internally. And as much as I’d like to limit the external, they feel that, too.”
Penn State (0-2 Big Ten, 3-2) gets a chance to quiet its critics for a day when it meets Northwestern (1-1, 3-2) on Homecoming weekend Saturday at 3:30 (TV-FS1) at Beaver Stadium.
The Lions began the season ranked second in The Associated Press poll before falling to Oregon 30-24 in double overtime and last week at previously winless UCLA 42-37, the worst loss of Franklin’s tenure.
With the defeats, Penn State dropped out of the Top 25 and left itself no margin for error if it wants to reach the College Football Playoff again.
“It’s easy to point fingers and say, ‘It’s their fault or their fault,’ ” offensive tackle Drew Shelton said. “Collectively, it’s all of us. We have to be better as a whole. We all know that.
“Coach Franklin has done a great job of expressing that it’s all of us. It’s not us against each other; it’s us against everyone else.”
Northwestern also has played Oregon and UCLA, losing to the Ducks 34-14 and beating the Bruins 17-14. Both games were at home.
Oregon built a 34-0 lead before Northwestern scored two touchdowns in the final seven minutes. The Ducks intercepted two passes by Preston Stone to set up two TDs.
Against UCLA, the Wildcats took a 17-3 halftime lead before stopping the Bruins twice in the final 3½ minutes.
“I put these guys in the same wheelhouse as Iowa,” Franklin said. “They play hard. They’re usually an older team. They don’t do a lot, but what they do they do well. They have a few wrinkles to keep you honest.
“They’re going to make you earn it. We have a lot of respect for these guys.”
Northwestern has a ground-oriented offense, which averages 196.0 rushing yards per game (35th nationally) and 5.3 per carry.
In its first season with new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, Penn State ranks 77th in rushing defense, allowing 149.4 yards per game. UCLA ran for 269 yards, including 128 by quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
The Lions clearly missed linebacker Tony Rojas, who suffered a long-term injury in practice last week. Franklin said the defense isn’t playing as fast and aggressive as it has in the recent past.
“Ultimately it’s on us to give them enough so that they can go out and play winning defense,” he said. “If it’s too simplistic, that’s going to be a problem as well. It’s also those guys trusting their training and letting it fly.”
Led by quarterback Drew Allar, the offense played much better against UCLA than it did in the first three quarters against Oregon. Allar accounted for 278 total yards, threw for two touchdowns and had a pass dropped in the end zone.
Franklin said he doesn’t plan to make any drastic changes, at least not yet.
“It all starts with being honest,” he said, “being honest with yourself, being honest with the staff, being honest with the players.
“It’s reminding the players that we’re closer than maybe it feels like right now. It’s never as bad as you think. It’s never as good as you think, although it feels bad right now to everybody.”
Rich Scarcella’s pick
Penn State 35, Northwestern 14
The Nittany Lions need to play with a greater sense of urgency than they did at UCLA. They need a quick start so that the home crowd doesn’t get restless. The Wildcats have a minus-6 turnover ratio, among the worst in the country. Look for Penn State to pull away in the second half..