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<p>James Franklin wasn&#8217;t ready to talk about Ohio State on Saturday night.</p><p>After beating Michigan, the Penn State coach preemptively headed off any questions about the Buckeyes, ultimately picking up a reporter&#8217;s phone that was recording near him to check the time &#8212; 11:23.</p><p>&#8220;Thirty-seven minutes,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got 37 minutes to enjoy this win. I&#8217;m not talking about the next opponent and we&#8217;re going to enjoy the heck out of this win for 37 minutes, and then the next day, we&#8217;ll focus on the next opponent.&#8221;</p><p>Well, it&#8217;s time now. And Franklin and Urban Meyer have plenty to say.</p><p>As a prelude to their players trying to smash each other into a fine paste, the Penn State and Ohio State coaches opened the week by paying their highest possible compliments to one another.</p><p>Franklin on Ohio State: &#8220;We&#8217;re going to be playing one of the most talented, gifted, athletic teams in the country.&#8221;</p><p>Meyer on Penn State: &#8220;This is one of the top offenses in America.&#8221;</p><p>Franklin on J.T. Barrett: &#8220;One of the most successful quarterbacks in Big Ten history and nationally.&#8221;</p><p>Meyer on Saquon Barkley: &#8220;He&#8217;s the best all-purpose guy we&#8217;ve probably faced in my career.&#8221;</p><p>Franklin on the Buckeyes: &#8220;Elite defense &#8230; obviously they got tremendous depth, size, athleticism, power up front.&#8221;</p><p>Meyer on the Nittany Lions: &#8220;This happens to be the No. 1 pass defense in America, I believe.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s equal parts respect and psychological warfare for both coaches, who will meet again on Saturday in Columbus for one of the nation&#8217;s most anticipated games of 2017.</p><p>That it opened with praise on both sides isn&#8217;t too surprising. Penn State enters ranked No. 2 in the polls with Ohio State not far behind at No. 6. The winner will have the inside track to the Big Ten East title and a shot at the College Football Playoff.</p><p>Ohio State had the week off while the Lions delivered a 42-13 beating to Michigan on Saturday, dropping the Wolverines out of the AP poll.</p><p>Meyer was watching.</p><p>&#8220;I was home,&#8221; Meyer said. &#8220;And I think we&#8217;re playing a very good team.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Truckload of awards</strong></p><p>The national honors kept rolling in on Tuesday as Lions players won two more weekly awards.</p><p>Quarterback Trace McSorley was named Davey O&#8217;Brien National Quarterback of the Week and linebacker Jason Cabinda was named Lott IMPACT Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.</p><p>McSorley also won the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, the Rose Bowl Big Ten Player of the Week and the Manning Award Stars of the Week.</p><p>Despite a shaky start in which he missed some open receivers and threw an interception, McSorley rebounded to finish 17-of-26 for 282 yards and a touchdown while adding three more scores and 76 yards on the ground.</p><p>His 358 yards of total offense pushed him over 6,000 for his career, putting him fourth in school history.</p><p>Cabinda had his eighth career game with double-digit tackles, finishing with 13 while splitting a sack and forcing a fumble.</p><p>On top of that, Cabinda was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and Barkley won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week &#8212; his fourth conference honor of the season.</p><p>Grant Haley and Marcus Allen were two of 13 semifinalists announced for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the country&#8217;s top defensive back.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour and coach James Franklin walk off the field after Penn State&#8217;s win over Michigan on Saturday night.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_AP17295155485465-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour and coach James Franklin walk off the field after Penn State&#8217;s win over Michigan on Saturday night.  </caption0><photoCredit0>Chris Dunn | AP photo, York Daily Record </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>UP NEXT</strong></p><p>Penn State at Ohio State</p><p>3:30 p.m., Saturday, FOX</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Penn State, Ohio State sing each other’s praises to open big week