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James Franklin on icing: Whether it’s the first play or the last play, we have a standard
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James Franklin made it clear that he wasn’t trying to ice Georgia State’s kicker in the waning seconds of Saturday’s game, which Penn State was leading 56-0. But he won’t apologize for calling a timeout and getting the proper personnel on the field.
The Penn State head coach appeared to ice the Panthers’ kicker, calling a timeout just prior the ball being addressed on Saturday. During Saturday’s B1G coaches teleconference, Franklin said that wasn’t the case. But when questioned on whether or not he made the right move, he fired back.
“Then you won’t ever understand me or you won’t ever understand us,” he said. “Whether it’s the first play of the game or the last play of the game…we are going to fight. We have a standard.”
Following the game on Saturday, Franklin said that the Nittany Lions had their fourth team in the field and they don’t have a fourth-team field goal block.
“They didn’t even really know how to get lined up with the mix-and-match guys that we had in there. So, we called a timeout to get the second-team field goal block in there. nd that’s just kind of how it played out, to be honest with you.”
Penn State has opened the year 3-0 and has pitched shutouts in two of the first three games. This Saturday, the Lions travel to Kinnick Stadium for a primetime matchup against Iowa.
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