The 2025 Penn State football team is undefeated and has looked solid through two games, but there is still room for growth. They dominated Nevada in Week 1 and then looked sloppy against Florida International, but still won easily. Head coach James Franklin sees room for improvement despite the two big wins, especially with the special teams through two games.
Against Florida International, James Franklin said they have not seen extra help for the outside gap two years in a row. What is most frustrating for Franklin is that it keeps happening, and it happened two years in a row with the same issue.
“We’ve had two times now, two years in a row, where a guy takes two hands, puts them on the inside gap and doesn’t help in the outside gap,” Franklin said in Monday’s media session. “That is extremely frustrating as a coach.”
The special teams woes extended beyond the kicking game, too, with the inconsistent punting game. Punter Gabriel Nwosu booted a 67-yard punt, but two kickoffs were sent out of bounds for penalties. While Nwosu has been a key piece for the Penn State kicking game over the last three seasons, he only took over punting duties this year and acknowledged room for improvement.
“Obviously, it wasn’t my best game kicking off, so I got to focus on that tomorrow,” Nwosu said. “We’ll come back in the building, look at the win and improve on that one.”
Penn State football safety and former four-star recruit King Mack has also impacted the kick return game through two games. He returned one kick for 73 yards in the opening game against Nevada.
The work of the second-year special teams coordinator, Justin Lustig, has proven to Franklin that the unit has great potential behind their errant penalties in the first two weeks.
“The other thing that factored in is [Coach Lustig] knowing our personnel,” Franklin said. “I’ve liked most of what we’ve done in games one and two; we just have to eliminate some of the unforced errors.”
The inconsistent play is fixable and something to watch because this offense has come out swinging and extremely explosive compared to others.
