James Franklin Generously Donates Victory to Ohio State in Happy Valley
Published on 30-Sep-2018 by Raoul Duke
Share this article
Apparently, James Franklin was absent the day they taught coaching at coaching school.
This is really the only logical explanation for what went down in Happy Valley.
The Nittany Lions managed to blow a 13-point lead in the first half and a 12-point lead in the second half.
The word choke comes to mind.
While Franklin made a number of curious decisions as the night progressed, his one glaring lapse in judgment occured late in the game with his Nittany Lions down 27-26.
Penn State had a last chance to keep their final drive moving, but @OhioStateFB stuffed it. 💪
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 30, 2018
Buckeyes win, 27-26. pic.twitter.com/ONutWAgaRg
That's so not good.
This coaching savant actually called two timeouts to come up with this brilliant fourth down play.
Needing five yards for a first down and only another 10 or 15 to reach game winning field goal range, Frankin decided to take the ball out of QB Trace McSorley's hands and try a running play out of the shotgun.
The result was a two yard loss.
Armchair QB's across the globe lost their collective minds all at once.
Seriously, I’ve never seen a coach burn through two years of good will on one play.
— Michael Weinreb (@MichaelWeinreb) September 30, 2018
I am sitting here legitimately stunned and wondering if that really happened.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) September 30, 2018
Yeah dude, that just happened.
This is what Penn State’s QB had done tonight, and with fourth-and-5 and the game on the line against Ohio State, James Franklin let that dude hand it off. Get out of here. pic.twitter.com/qXUUob4DI0
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_SEC) September 30, 2018
Not hugely impressed with either Ohio State or Penn St. Not surprised James Franklin oversaw head-scratching final play call. He's a better recruiter than a coach. Know him well from his years at my school.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) September 30, 2018
Even Skip Bayless sees the folly in that playcall.
Say what you will about the morally and ethically compromised Urban Meyer, but he probably wouldn't have run that play.
This game was pretty darn exciting, although that provides little consolation to distraught Nittany Lion enthusiasts.
Maybe Franklin can take some sort of correspondence course in coaching to make up the material he missed.
Many are offered online and can be worked around that busy Big Ten schedule.