What James Franklin said following Penn State's loss to Arkansas in the Outback Bowl
Penn State finished on a low note and its first loss in a postseason bowl since 2018. Penn State was outmatched on both sides of the ball as Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman outcoached Penn State head coach James Franklin.
Arkansas outgained Penn State in total yards accounted for 451-to-323 and first downs accounted for 25-to-17. Arkansas dominated Penn State through their efficient run game as they gave up 353 of the 451 total yards on the ground.
Franklin made some questionable calls throughout the game including the fake punt on 4th & 13 on Arkansas’ 36-yard line with 45 seconds left in the first half instead of going for it with their offense. Franklin defended his decision by saying it was either draw a defensive pass interference from Arkansas or to get Arkansas to account for a touchback after intercepting the pass.
Finally, after outscoring Arkansas 10-7 in the first half, Penn State was outscored by Arkansas 17-0 in the second half.
“We’re responsible for all of that.”
Here’s James Franklin on Penn State’s disappointing end to the season: pic.twitter.com/2AYydvG4sI
— Onward State (@OnwardState) January 1, 2022
Franklin says Ji’Ayir Brown didn’t practice all week long, and wasn’t cleared until after practice Friday night.
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) January 1, 2022
Franklin on Jesse Luketa: “I will pound the table for him with every single NFL team, GM, coaches. The guy is a football player. He loves the game of football”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) January 1, 2022
Franklin says the medical staff brought Sean Clifford out of the game.
“He made some plays, but I know there’s some plays he wants back. I think we can do some things to help him, as well.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) January 1, 2022
Franklin on not burning redshirts for Jamari Buddin and Kobe King: “Both of those guys would’ve played and would’ve had to play if we had some injuries, but they wanted to preserve some redshirts.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) January 1, 2022
Franklin on the second half offensive struggles: “We had a couple big plays in the first half…We didn’t make those plays in the second half. We had some opportunities, dropped some balls.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) January 1, 2022
Franklin: “The biggest factor to me that stood out in the second half was the quarterback running game…They made an adjustment and a commitment to run the quarterback.”
— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) January 1, 2022
