Sentinel photo by MIKE GOSS Penn State head coach James Franklin talks to CBS Sports prior to the Nevada game.

Following are the highlights of James Franklin’s Monday press conference:

Saturday’s game: vs. Oregon (7:30 p.m., NBC/Peacock)

Records: Penn State (3-0), Oregon (4-0)

Odds: Penn State is a 3.5-point favorite.

Rankings: Penn State is ranked No. 3 by the Associated Press. Oregon is ranked No. 6 in the AP poll.

Series: Penn State leads, 3-2

White Out conditions

The White Out game is the one that all PSU fans circle on the calendar as soon as it’s announced. Stakes couldn’t be much higher as far as it goes with conference games in September.

ESPN’s College Gameday will be on the Old Main lawn on Saturday morning, marking the 11th time the popular show has come to State College. And the opponent is one of the premier programs in the country in Oregon.

Early forecasts are predicting favorable weather for football on Saturday. What more could fans want on a Saturday in late September?

“We need this place rocking,” Franklin said. “We need to have a distinct home-field advantage. We always do. I’m expecting this to be an environment like no one has ever seen.

“(Former Utah, Florida, and Ohio State coach) Urban Meyer always has discussions and debates on what is the hardest place to play in college football, and he usually says between the Penn State Whiteout and LSU night games. We want to make it clearly obvious to everybody what’s the most challenging and difficult environment in all of sports.”

Franklin acknowledged that he takes a moment prior to the team taking the field before the White Out to soak in the atmosphere, but afterwards he’s focused on the opponent. He also doesn’t need to tell the players to lock in when it’s time.

“It is a special deal,” Franklin said. “We’re honored to coach in it and play in it, but I don’t think it needs to be addressed.

“Almost all of them were there as recruits. The ones that weren’t there as recruits have now played in it.”

Scouting Oregon

The Ducks have been successful for a long period of time, and it hasn’t been any different since Dan Lanning took over as head coach in 2022.

Lanning owns a career record of 39-6 at Oregon, along with last year’s Big Ten championship over Penn State in its first year in the conference.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for what Coach Lanning has been able to do, and for the Oregon football program and university as a whole,” Franklin said. “It’s been impressive to watch what they’ve been able to do in a short period of time.”

Franklin specifically remarked about Ducks tight end Kenyon Sadiq. Sadiq has nine receptions for 155 yards and 3 TDs for the season. PSU fans will remember him specifically for one of his two TDs in the Big Ten championship where he hurdles a Nittany Lion defender on his way for the score.

“What we were able to do with Tyler Warren last year, they’re getting that out of their tight end position,” Franklin said. “He’s a matchup problem in the pass game. He’s physical in the run game, extremely explosive.”

There is also a tie to Penn State in special teams coordinator Joe Lorig, who held the same position with Franklin at PSU from 2019-21. Lorig and Franklin were roommates while coaching at Idaho State.

Moore’s comparison to Gabriel

Franklin said there are many comparisons to Oregon quarterback Dante Moore to last year’s QB in Dillon Gabriel.

Franklin “recruited the heck out of Moore” in high school, where he was a five-star recruit out of Detroit. He committed to UCLA out of high school and transferred to Oregon after his freshman year.

Gabriel threw for 283 yards and four touchdowns in last year’s Big Ten championship, torching the PSU defense for a 45-37 win.

“(Moore) is a throw-first guy,” Franklin said. “He’s very accurate. He can extend plays. He has a ton of playmakers around him. Dante runs a little bit more than they have in the past, but (Gabriel) was a really good athlete as well.

“Dante sitting behind him for a year was really valuable for his development. It also shows tremendous maturity for him. He’s a five-star recruit. He could have went anywhere and would have been a starting quarterback the day he stepped on campus.”

Tricks left in the bag?

The wonder lately is how much have we seen out of the Penn State offense through the first three games.

The offense has been lackluster at times, especially against FIU and Villanova. So are the Nittany Lions holding back on some kind of secret?

“There’s some things, ‘Could you have used early in the season, but you didn’t feel like you needed to?’ Yeah. I think that’s always the case,” Franklin said. “But it’s not like you’re going into a game saying you’re going to be conservative in this game.

“It’s not because we’re taking the approach to be vanilla or conservative. It’s just based on what you think you have to do in that game to be successful.”

Pry’s dismissal

Franklin usually likes to stay on topic and talk about his team or the opponent ahead in Monday press conferences, but he took the time to acknowledge Brent Pry, who was fired as Virginia Tech coach on Sept. 14 after a crushing loss to Old Dominion.

Franklin said he has texted with Pry, a longtime assistant under Franklin at both Penn State and Vanderbilt, since his dismissal.

“It’s a challenging situation. You hate to see it for anybody,” Franklin said. “I hate to see it for Brent. I hate to see it for Virginia Tech.

“Brent is resilient, and he’s a darn good football coach. He’ll bounce back. I have a lot of respect and a lot of love for Brent and his family.”

(Compiled by Andy Stine of the Altoona Mirror. He can be reached at astine@altoonamirror.com.)