What James Franklin said following Penn State's loss to Ohio State
Penn State being 0-2 to start their 2020 season is not something many people likely saw coming. It’s the first 0-2 start to the season since 2012 for the Nittany Lions after they lost 38-25 to rival Ohio State last night.
After the game, head coach James Franklin addressed the media and talked all about this latest loss.
Via Tyler Donohue of 247Sports, Franklin talked about Penn State’s struggles on offense and said, “For us, offensively, we really struggled in the first half. Being able to run the ball, {we struggled} pretty much the entire game, and being able to protect Sean. He was getting hit way too much and had people on his face way too much.”
He then went into his assessment of the defensive performance and said, “And then on defense, I thought not having Jesse Luketa in the first half made an impact. Defensively, we really couldn’t get them off schedule. They were in manageable down-and-distance situations pretty much the entire game, and with a quarterback like that and their offensive personnel, if you’re not getting them off schedule, it’s going to be challenging.”
Franklin was also asked if he’s seen any progress from Sean Clifford so far this season. He said, “Well, tonight was hard to judge that based on having people in his face all night long. We’ll watch the tape and make some decisions and adjustments that we have to do. But I will tell you this – I thought for the amount of times he got hit and got pressured in the pocket, his toughness was on display. I was impressed with that but, obviously, we’ve all got to be better. All of us.”
Penn State’s next game will be against Maryland next Saturday at 3:30 pm. ET.