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What James Franklin said following Penn State’s 28-20 win over Auburn
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Penn State added another signature victory to its early resume.
Saturday night, the Nittany Lions defeated Auburn 28-20 for their second Top 25 victory over the season. Penn State’s defense stood strong once again and Sean Clifford stepped up in a big way to lead the team to a victory.
Clifford’s night ended completing 28-of-32 for 280 yards with 2 touchdowns and just 1 interception. Jahan Dotson had a big night, totaling 78 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches, as well.
Auburn did enjoy some success on the ground, piling up 182 yards on 40 carries, good enough for a 4.6 yards per carry average. But, once again, the Nittany Lions didn’t break defensively and were able to improve to 3-0 on the year.
Following the big win, James Franklin met with reporters to discuss the game:
Here’s James Franklin on the series where referees seemed to take a down away from Penn State: pic.twitter.com/TUfn5wrYEC
— Onward State (@OnwardState) September 19, 2021
Franklin: “Auburn came in here and played extremely well…They managed the environment pretty well on the road.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) September 19, 2021
Franklin: “Defensively, we bent but don’t break.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) September 19, 2021
Franklin says any year-to-year comparisons of this team should be considered as a “whole body of work,” rather than just looking at last year.
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) September 19, 2021
Franklin: “We’ve got a tough-minded football team…Wisconsin is a tough place to play and we gutted out a win there… We did it again tonight.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) September 19, 2021
Franklin on the offensive line: “They played really well…They made a statement early in the game when Sean was back there for like 12 seconds.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) September 19, 2021
Franklin: “I don’t want that to be one week on one week off. We have a really good tight end group and we want to keep them involved.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) September 19, 2021
Franklin on the fake punt attempt to PJ Mustipher: “When you’re playing defense the way we are, you can take those risks.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) September 19, 2021
Franklin: “He’s taken some criticism, so I’m super happy for him.”
Franklin noted that Clifford made the plays he should’ve last night, but also a few that he didn’t necessarily expect him to make. Most notably, the scramble and touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson.
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) September 19, 2021
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