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WATCH: James Franklin explains questionable timeout at the end of the game
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There are going to be some people that question James Franklin’s antics on Saturday night. But don’t worry, the Penn State head coach knew exactly what he was doing.
With just a few seconds left in the game, Georgia State was trailing Penn State 56-0. The Panthers were able to work their way into field goal range and wanted to spoil the shutout with a game-ending field goal. As the unit got lined up and ready to kick, Franklin took a timeout.
It looked like Franklin was attempting to ice Georgia State’s kicker and preserve Penn State’s second shutout of the year. Apparently, that wasn’t the case. The Penn State addressed the final timeout following the game.
Nope. Don't think it. It wasn't the case.@coachjfranklin fills you in on why he took the timeout in the final seconds last night. pic.twitter.com/tLN7SHbwDE
— Penn State On BTN (@PennStateOnBTN) September 17, 2017
It’s understandable that you’d want to proper special teams group on the field, but in a 56-0 game, is it really that important? Maybe preserving the shutout wasn’t the most important thing to Franklin, but it didn’t come off that way.
Penn State improved to 3-0 on the year, and pitched its second shutout of the season. The Nittany Lions travel to Kinnick Stadium to play Iowa next Saturday.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB