WATCH: An emotional James Franklin says Penn State can 'no longer be comfortable being great'
James Franklin was as emotional as he’s ever been following Penn State’s loss to Ohio State. And who could blame him? A second-straight one-point loss to the Buckeyes could cost the Nittany Lions another shot at a B1G title.
After the game, Franklin met with the press and gave an emotional post-game statement. It was clear that the 27-26 loss — and blowing a two-score lead in the fourth quarter –really got to Nittany Lions head coach.
He didn’t hold back in his post-game comments, and even called out a few players for not doing the “little things” correctly, though he didn’t use their names.
“Lose by one point this year, lose by one point last year. You make that up by all the little things,” Franklin said. “By going to class consistently so the coaches don’t have to babysit you and we can spend out time developing you as men and as people and as players.
“Don’t get me wrong, our guys do a great job of going to class, but there’s two or three guys. It’s all the little things.
After that brief tirade, Franklin then transitioned into saying that he wants to take Penn State to the next level. He believes he’s got a great program, but not an elite one.
“We are going to find a way to get from being a great program, which we are…we’re a great program,” Franklin said. “We have gotten comfortable being great. We will no longer be comfortable being great.”
With the loss, Penn State drops to 4-1 on the season and 1-1 in the B1G. It will need some help if it hopes to get back to the B1G Championship Game and stay in CFB Playoff contention.
Below is the full video of Franklin.
More from James Franklin’s postgame declaration. ‘We have gotten comfortable being great. We will no longer be comfortable being great.’ pic.twitter.com/IYCDSzyCrG
— Mark Wogenrich (@MarkWogenrich) September 30, 2018