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James Franklin needed only to briefly check his Twitter account as a barometer.

Predictably, the mood after Penn State’s narrow victory over Army on Saturday was not all that pleasant. Especially regarding the Nittany Lions’ shorthanded, slumping offense.

“I had a fan send me a colorful… colorful… tweet the other day,” Franklin said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “It went on and on and on and on. And I looked at it, and I was going to respond. And I thought, ‘Don’t respond.’ And four hours later, I was scrolling and I looked at it again. I was about to respond, and I said, ‘Don’t respond.’ “

He responded.

“Tell me how that would help,” the Lions coach wrote back the next morning. “Explain to me how that would help. If you can explain to me how that would make the situation we’re in better, I’m happy to do it.”

The reply back, according to Franklin: “Coach, you’re exactly right. I was emotional, I was angry, I let my emotions get the best of me. We Are… You have our support. Blah, blah, blah.”

Well, that’s one fan down. Only a few (hundred) thousand left to go.

Though the Lions are 4-1 on the season after winning the last four at Beaver Stadium, the 28-3 triumph over Rutgers was the only one that didn’t have fans reaching for the antacid.

And more stomach-churning is likely on the horizon as Penn State resumes Big Ten play. The Lions’ final seven opponents are a combined 29-6 on the season with four of them entering this weekend ranked in the top 20.

Saturday’s opponent, Indiana, is not one of them. But the Hoosiers are 4-1 and had a chance to dethrone national champion Ohio State last week in the final minute.

In other words, there are probably going to more fires for Franklin to put out.

“That’s the hardest part of my job,” Franklin said. “The hardest part of my job. How do you go out and get people really excited about the season, about the team, about the future, without setting up false expectations? … At a place that no matter what has happened, the day the season starts, everybody remembers 1982 and 1986 (national championships), and that’s their expectation.

“And to be honest with you, it’s the thing I probably love the most about Penn State is there is an expectation here for greatness. It’s also the thing that can be the most challenging.”

Infirmary report

At the moment, the expectations are low for the Lions as long as they’re without top rushers Saquon Barkley (ankle) and Akeel Lynch (knee). It also doesn’t help that tackle Andrew Nelson (knee) has missed the last three-and-a-half games and now the only senior, center Angelo Mangiro, is banged-up as well.

There was some consternation from fans on Monday when Penn State’s latest depth chart didn’t list Barkley, Lynch, linebacker Brandon Bell (ankle) or free safety Marcus Allen (shoulder), all of whom sat out against Army.

But as Franklin confirmed Tuesday, the chart only reflects the situation from the past game and isn’t indicative of who might suit up against Indiana.

“Are we hopeful that we’re going to get some guys back this week? Like Marcus Allen? Yeah,” Franklin said. “But there’s a lot that still has to happen this week for me to be confident and say that’s going to happen.

“Same thing at running backs. Are we hopeful that we can get Saquon back this week? Yeah, we’re hopeful. But I don’t know that right now. And talking to our doctors, it’s the same thing.”

Wax on, wax off

Indeed, Franklin went into greater depth discussing injuries to the Hoosiers’ key skill players.

Quarterback Nate Sudfeld and running back Jordan Howard both sat out the second half of last week’s near-upset of the Buckeyes.

Indiana coach Kevin Wilson hasn’t tipped his hand about how close either of them might be to returning, but Franklin gave his opinion on the matter.

“They both had ankle injuries that didn’t allow them to come back in the second half,” Franklin said. “Probably similar to our guys that have gone out and haven’t been able to come back the second half — most of those guys haven’t been able to play the following week.

“We’ve got to prepare as if they’re going to be there, but I would also think if they couldn’t come back in the second half, it’s going to be challenging for them to come back and be right this week. But you never know. Mr. Miyagi may be working for them.”

Emotional month

Senior captain Anthony Zettel spoke to reporters Tuesday for the first time since his father died on Sept. 25 after a battle with cancer.

The defensive tackle thoughtfully described what the past month has been like for him.

“Me and my family went through a hard time,” Zettel said. “But I think when you got a group of guys in the locker room like I have, and a group of guys at home — family and friends that surround me with support — I think that really takes the edge off everything.

“It makes me be able to fight through it and deal with it better.”

The Penn State offense has struggled this season, and Nittany Lions coach James Franklin (left) has heard about it from fans.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_psu-fans1.jpg.optimal.jpgThe Penn State offense has struggled this season, and Nittany Lions coach James Franklin (left) has heard about it from fans.

Franklin
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Big-Ten-Media-Days-Fo_Erza-2-.jpg.optimal.jpgFranklin
Franklin deals with managing PSU fans’ expectations

By Derek Levarse

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Indiana at Penn State

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Read more from Anthony Zettel in Thursday’s Times Leader.