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Eric Trump in Scranton: ‘Chrin can win’

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Ailing Jarrett Burton anxious to make 2018-19 debut for WBS Penguins

<p>After another 100-yard rushing day &#8212; and plenty of extra hits &#8212; Trace McSorley declared that he was feeling fine physically on Saturday evening.</p><p>James Franklin would like to keep it that way.</p><p>The Penn State coach is hoping to keep his quarterback intact over this next three-week stretch against ranked opponents known for their physical defenses, starting with Saturday&#8217;s game against Iowa at Beaver Stadium.</p><p>&#8220;I think in general my concern right now is Trace is carrying too much of the load on offense,&#8221; Franklin said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. &#8220;That&#8217;s something that we need to do a better job of. We need more players having a bigger impact on the game on offense. So that&#8217;s probably my biggest concern.&#8221;</p><p>Franklin praised the work of running back Miles Sanders, who called Saturday&#8217;s win over Indiana &#8220;his best game&#8221; in part because of his growing role as a receiver.</p><p>But the same problems continue to plague the passing game in general, specifically dropped passes, which are now over 20 for the season as a team.</p><p>&#8220;We need to spread (out) some of those big plays and some of those runs and some of those catches,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;And just overall offensive production needs to be spread out a little bit.&#8221;</p><p>Not surprisingly, McSorley followed Franklin on Tuesday and said he was willing to keep up a heavy workload if called up.</p><p>&#8221;To me, I really haven&#8217;t felt like there&#8217;s been a big burden or felt like I&#8217;m shouldering too much of a load,&#8221; McSorley said. &#8220;But as far as kind of how we&#8217;re going to continue, I&#8217;m going to have the same mindset, just moving on to do whatever the coaches ask of me, do whatever is asked of me by the team, whatever I can do to try and help us win.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Infirmary report</strong> </p><p>Just when Juwan Johnson looked to be on his way to a big game on Saturday after an impressive 59-yard catch-and-run that set up a field goal in the second quarter.</p><p>But an apparent lower body injury kept him on the sideline for the entire second half, and the junior wideout walked gingerly off the field at the end of the game.</p><p>&#8220;He was upset. He was frustrated,&#8221; McSorley said. &#8220;But he was doing what he could to be a voice for the other receivers. He was on the sideline to give confidence to them, helping them. He was frustrated, but he handled it really well.&#8221;</p><p>Whether Johnson can return against the Hawkeyes is still up in the air.</p><p>&#8220;We were hoping to get him back in the game on Saturday, but we weren&#8217;t able to do that,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Me and Juwan have been going back and forth for the last 48 hours. I talked to the trainers and got their feelings on it, but then I think it&#8217;s also interesting to hear what the players say themselves, what their temperament is about it.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s pretty confident that he&#8217;s going to be back, and so is Andy (Mutnan, Penn State&#8217;s head trainer). But it&#8217;s early in the week, so we&#8217;ll see.&#8221;</p><p>Franklin mentioned &#8220;injuries&#8221; &#8212; plural &#8212; to the receiving corps both after the game on Saturday and again on Tuesday. DeAndre Thompkins also didn&#8217;t play down the stretch at wideout or his customary punt return spot.</p><p>As a result, Franklin said he talked to his three true freshman receivers &#8212; Jahan Dotson, Daniel George and Justin Shorter &#8212; and told them to be ready and to prepare as starters.</p><p>&#8221;I talked to all three of those guys on Sunday night after practice that this was going to be a big week for them,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;Especially with losing some guys last week, those guys need to prepare as if they&#8217;re going to be starters this week and then come Thursday or Friday we&#8217;ll make decisions.&#8221;</p><p>Dotson and George both made cameos in the second half against Indiana with Dotson hauling in his first career catch. Shorter, the No. 1 rated receiver in the country in his recruiting class, had his progress stunted by his own injury suffered in training camp.</p><p>&#8220;They&#8217;ve done really well,&#8221; cornerback Amani Oruwariye said. &#8220;I mean, they&#8217;ve been asked a lot for (new guys), but I think they were prepared for it. Like I said, we all prepare as if we&#8217;re going to be a starter, and then when guys go down, next-man-up mentality. But they&#8217;ve been preparing well throughout practice.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">With defenses keying in on Miles Sanders and receivers struggling with drops, Penn State&#8217;s offense has been depending more and more on the running ability of quarterback Trace McSorley. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_AP18294657681470_ne20181023171348289.jpg</photo0><caption0>With defenses keying in on Miles Sanders and receivers struggling with drops, Penn State&#8217;s offense has been depending more and more on the running ability of quarterback Trace McSorley. </caption0><photoCredit0>Doug McSchooler | AP photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Franklin concerned McSorley ‘carrying too much of the load on offense’ for PSU