Earlier this week, Virginia Tech football coach James Franklin held his weekly press conference ahead of Saturday night's showdown at Maryland in a non-conference game. He had a bizarre interaction with a reporter from the Baltimore Sun that blew up on social media.
However, Franklin's interaction wasn't the only thing that took off. Troy transfer Jaquez White took the podium to answer some questions about last Saturday's win over Old Dominion, as well as to look ahead to the Terrapins. He was asked about Maryland quarterback Malik Washington, and White dropped an answer that supplied some serious bulletin board material up in College Park. On Wednesday night, Franklin attempted to do some damage control for his cornerback.
James Franklin does some damage control ahead of the Maryland matchup
In case you don't know what White said or can't remember, here is what he said about Washington: "He's a pretty good quarterback,'' White said. "He has a decent arm. I don't really think he's that accurate, but I mean, he's pretty good. He's not a runner. He’s looking to throw the ball every time.“
Ok, fair enough. However, the timing was a little suspect after the former Virginia Tech recruit was 34-for-41 against UConn for 347 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-14 win. At one point in the game, he connected on 18 straight passes. Franklin sang his praises on Wednesday night.
“I know him well,'' said Franklin. "We recruited the heck out of him. Know his family. He’s an impressive kid. Makes a ton of plays - off-balance throws. He had a couple of throws in the UConn game one where he kind of jumped and kind of flipped his body around and threw a dart inside. He’s a problem, and we got a ton of respect for him.”
If that isn't an attempt to distract attention away from White's comments to put some water on a fire, I don't know what is. Did White say what he said on purpose? Unlikely. However, in this day and age of social media, it was seen that way, and Maryland fans are looking for anything to give them an edge in a game where they are the underdog at home in a battle between two 2-0 teams.
James Franklin is good at a lot of things with recruiting, and his results speak for themselves, but he's underrated at doing damage control, and that is what he was doing 72 hours before kickoff up the road in Maryland.
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