Penn State goes to great lengths to prepare for trip to Auburn [notebook]

Sep. 13—James Franklin has heard a lot about Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium, even though he has never coached a team there.

So Franklin, the Penn State football coach, began preparing for the Nittany Lions' trip to Auburn last week, even though they played Ohio at home.

He even had the Lions practice once inside Holuba Hall, close the doors and turn on the heat to simulate the conditions he expects Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (TV-CBS) at Auburn.

"The staff and the players were looking at me like I was crazy," Franklin said Tuesday. "We went all silent count last week in practice and had the music as loud as possible.

"We were starting our preparation without telling anybody that's what we were doing."

Auburn has asked its fans to wear orange for Saturday's game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, which has a capacity of 87,451. The Tigers went 4-3 there last year, with wins over Akron, Alabama State, Georgia State and Mississippi and losses to Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama.

"It's gonna be similar to some of the better environments in the country," Franklin said. "There's no doubt about it. They take a ton of pride in their program, their university and their community. Football obviously is really important in that region of the country."

It's Penn State's first game at a Southeastern Conference school since a 24-3 loss at Alabama in 2010.

The Lions' charter flight will land in Montgomery, Ala., about 55 miles west of the Auburn campus. They will stay in a hotel there Friday night and ride an hour to the stadium.

"Flights are challenging and hotels are challenging," Franklin said. "We've got a plan for it. It's just a little bit different than the way we normally operate."

Evans emerges: Omari Evans, a consensus three-star freshman from Killeen, Texas, has quickly emerged as one of Penn State's top six wide receivers.

The 6-0, 179-pound Evans, a high school quarterback, caught two passes, including one for a 32-yard touchdown from classmate Drew Allar in the Lions' 46-10 win over Ohio last week.

"He has some skills and talents that aren't really coachable," Franklin said, "God-given talent, skills and ability in terms of speed. He was a guy we were able to get a true evaluation of in camp during the recruiting process. He did extremely well."

Franklin said Evans' decision to enroll early and participate in spring practice helped him become physically stronger, improve his fundamentals and technique and understand defenses better.

"Getting on the field and having some success helps," Franklin said. "When you have success, it usually has the ability to magnify and speed up a kid's maturity and development. Hopefully that will continue."

Weekly honors: Former Gov. Mifflin star Nick Singleton not surprisingly was named Penn State's Offensive Player of the Game for his performance against Ohio.

Singleton carried 10 times for 179 yards and two touchdowns and returned two kickoffs for 40 yards against the Bobcats.

Chop Robinson was named the Defensive Player of the Game after he made two tackles, including one for a 3-yard loss, and broke up a pass. Devyn Ford was selected the Special Teams Player of the Game.

In addition, tight end Grasyon Kline, a Warwick grad who also played at Wilson, was chosen as one of the Scout Team Offensive Players of the Week, along with Rob Rossi.

Nazareth grad Jake Wilson, an end, and Spencer Ripka, a cornerback, were named the Scout Team Defensive Players of the Week.

Kickoff set: Penn State's non-conference game Sept. 24 against Central Michigan at Beaver Stadium will start at noon and will be televised by Big Ten Network, it has been announced.

The Nittany Lions' game the following week, Oct. 1 against Northwestern at Beaver Stadium, will be televised by ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. No time has been announced.