What James Franklin said following Penn State's 28-20 win over Auburn
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
