A Defense of Penn State Coach James Franklin
A DEFENSE OF PENN STATE COACH JAMES FRANKLIN – Well…Saturday isn’t going to do anything to quell John’s position that James Franklin’s the kind of coach who runs up the score and tries to embarrass opponents. Penn State ended the game with Maryland by throwing a touchdown pass on the final play, turning a 38-7 win over the Terrapins into a 44-7 victory.
And as someone who hates showboating, bragging, rubbing it in, you’d think that I’d be on John’s side and criticizing Franklin for his sportsmanship. I’m not going to do that. I’m going to defend him here. And that’s because I agree with him 100%.
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Why? Because it wasn’t running up the score, and it wasn’t anything related to the spread. Franklin’s coaching in a different era, and one where sportsmanship has to take a different definition. Here’s why I agree with Franklin and why if anyone deserves criticism, it’s Maryland coach Mike Locksley.
Franklin’s Playing His Backups
Franklin has done this before, and he’s said the same thing: he’s putting his backups in the game. If he were leaving his starters in the game, he’d deserve most of the criticism leveled his way. (I’ll get to why it’s not every bit later.) But he’s putting his reserves in the game, and when they’re in the game, he’s going to let them play real football and run his system.
There are multiple reasons why this is the right thing to do. First, Franklin is trying to build a program. He’s using the end of games to learn more about his players and find out what he has for future situations. If someone goes down with an injury, Franklin has an idea what he can expect and how he must change his scheme to put the Nittany Lions in position to win.
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There’s more to this in the NIL era. Franklin has to make sure that he’s getting his reserves playing time or they’re going to leave. If someone isn’t playing much at all in this day and age, or if they don’t get meaningful reps, they’re gone. And there’s nothing that Franklin can do about it if a player goes. He can’t block someone from a Big Ten rival or a future opponent. If someone leaves, he might be facing them next year.
By getting his backups on the field and giving them meaningful reps, Franklin is keeping them happy until their time comes to start. If all the reserves ever get to do is run a vanilla offense or take a knee, they’re going to get frustrated. Every player Franklin keeps in University Park is someone he doesn’t have to replace in the portal or with a new recruit. Job one for Franklin is to worry about the long-term health of his program, and it’s not his problem if it hurts someone’s feelings.
Franklin’s Trying to Get a Home Game
Here’s why Franklin doesn’t deserve complete criticism for trying to score late in the game: margin of victory matters. Penn State is in the mix for a home game if it loses the Big Ten title game to Oregon, and the Nittany Lions have to set themselves up for a top-eight spot. That means trying to impress the committee, and let’s be honest, the committee does not watch every game played.
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With how many games were happening Saturday, Penn State-Maryland wasn’t exactly appointment television once the Nittany Lions got rolling. People are likely going to just see the final score and see a 37-point win as better than a 31-point win. It’s not great, but it’s reality. Again, Franklin’s first responsibility is to Penn State, not anybody else.
This Isn’t High School Football
It is not James Franklin’s fault that Maryland is terrible. The Terrapins went 1-8 in the Big Ten and were one point away from being 0-9. The Nittany Lions were holding back in the second half, as they scored just 13 points. Franklin let his foot off the gas with his starters in the game during the third quarter, in part because he and Locksley are friends.
But Maryland was still trying to score. The Terrapins went for it on a fourth down from their own 48 with just under eight minutes to go. They failed, and Penn State intentionally did not run up the score when it got the football back. The Nittany Lions turned it over on downs rather than attempt a chip shot field goal, and they only went for the touchdown on the final play because it was fourth down and Maryland had given Penn State the ball back on its own 15 with an interception.
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Maryland’s incompetence is not James Franklin’s fault. And it is not his job to damage his own program for the sake of the Terrapins. Given that it’s a nominal rival and that he once worked for the school and was the coach in waiting before an athletic director snafu in College Park, you could argue that Franklin has less responsibility to Maryland than any other school in the nation.
If the Terrapins want the Nittany Lions to back off, punt the ball. If you’ve waved the white flag, then fine. But Maryland didn’t do that. It played the wrong defense and it kept trying to attack on offense. At the end of the day, the 44-7 final score is the fault of Maryland and Maryland alone.
