James Franklin caught on video in 'heat of the moment exchange' with fan after Ohio State loss
Penn State coach James Franklin said he should not have reacted to comments made by a fan in the school’s student section after the Nittany Lions’ loss to Ohio State.
No. 9 Penn State had the ball late in the fourth quarter and called two timeouts to set up a play on 4th and 5. The play ended up being a run that was stopped in the backfield. No. 4 Ohio State took over on downs and was able to kneel out the clock for a 27-26 win.
As Franklin walked off the field a student told him that Penn State should have attempted to pass the ball instead of trying to run it. Franklin appeared to not take too kindly to that feedback.
He sent a statement to Penn Live about the reaction.
“At the end of the game, I had a heat of the moment exchange with one of the fans in our student section. I was frustrated with the end of the game and should not have reacted that way. We have the greatest fans in the country and I have the utmost respect for their passion for this program.”
It’s understandable why both Franklin and Penn State fans are upset with the way the game ended. Obviously Franklin and his staff thought they had the right call. Especially after spending two of their three remaining timeouts to set it up. Fans were rightfully annoyed that the best Penn State could come up with out of those timeouts was a run that got busted in the backfield by an Ohio State defensive line stunt.
However, Franklin is the guy paid millions of dollars to be the adult in this situation and take the responsibility for that call. While it’s impossible to tell just what exactly transpired in that video, it’s obvious that the situation doesn’t occur if Franklin simply walks back to the tunnel and doesn’t acknowledge anything.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
