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Fans teeing off on James Franklin for poor clock management in loss to Indiana
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With the first Saturday of Big Ten football in 2020 in the books, the epic finish in the Penn State-Indiana game remains one of the biggest talkers.
While the final play is garnering plenty of discussion, so too is the way the Nittany Lions and coach James Franklin handled the final minutes of regulation. Franklin’s decision making is causing a lot of second guessing on the internet.
The biggest complain comes in the form of fans ripping the Penn State coach for not simply kneeling the ball and ending the game with the Nittany Lions ahead 21-20 late in the fourth quarter. Instead, Penn State scored a touchdown. That opened the door for the Hoosiers to get the ball back and tie the game on a dramatic, last-minute touchdown drive.
In the aftermath of the loss, it’s been easy for fans to play armchair head coach. Franklin’s decision-making was scrutinized in real time, however. And it still is less than 24 hours after the stunning upset.
A half in and James Franklin already demonstrating why he’s one of the most overrated coaches in college football
— Tom Kelly (@TommyKelly44) October 24, 2020
James Franklin should be fired. I'm not joking. That was egregious coaching at the end of the game.
— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) October 24, 2020
Are people letting James Franklin off the hook at all here? That is the worst coaching decision of the last 10-15 years. He could have kneed out.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) October 25, 2020
Look at the score and time left, Penn St could down the ball out, Indiana only had 1 timeout . Just awful coaching by James Franklin pic.twitter.com/iWTnpz6eWM
— CFBBlueprint (@CFBBluePrint) October 24, 2020
James Franklin needs to be fired! You’re telling me you can’t knee the ball 3 FREAKING times and finish is game? Are you kidding me? pic.twitter.com/nadGG0ejT8
— Shaun Bellamy (@KingSB93) October 24, 2020
James Franklin is such a bad coach.
— connor 182 (@connormick) October 24, 2020
This all could have been avoided if James Franklin wasn’t greedy
— Mr. Ohio (@MrOH1O) October 24, 2020
Good thing PSU didn’t just take a knee with IU having one timeout left. Damn James Franklin is dumb.
— Michael Spath (@MichaelSpathITH) October 24, 2020
Penn State coach James Franklin proved again that he's the dumbest coach in college football. There is no way that his running back Ford should score if he had been properly coached up about the remaining time left, the situation and the fact that Indiana had only 1 timeout.
— Thomas Dollinger (@fabfifilly) October 25, 2020
It seems unlikely that Franklin will receive any direct punishment from his bosses in Happy Valley. But the Penn State coach’s decision making will certainly be magnified next Saturday as Ohio State comes to town.