Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo eviscerates James Franklin for Michigan loss, Mike Yurcich firing

Chris “Mad Dog” Russo absolutely eviscerated James Franklin for Penn State’s loss to Michigan and the Mike Yurcich firing.

The offensive coordinator was let go following the 24-15 loss at home to the Wolverines. Russo had about enough of Franklin’s on and off-the-field decisions.

During his weekly segment on ESPN’s First Take, Russo put together another all-time rant.

“He can’t beat a top 10 team, 3-17,” Russo said. “He can’t beat Ohio State, he can’t beat Michigan. That was a disaster on Saturday afternoon. He goes for two twice: 14-9 in the first half, which was asinine, and then 24-15. Do the math with 1:59 and go and he goes for two. They don’t get it. They lose the game, they wouldn’t hav won it anyway, but you got to extend the game and kick the extra point. So what does he do after the game? What does he do after the game? 

“He fires his offensive coordinator when Franklin can’t win a big game in his life and decides to vote for two twice, that second time made no sense on some asinine swing the gate play and out goes offensive coordinator … that is out of line. Here’s Franklin who in other games calls timeout to get the field goal against Delaware State up 56-3 and now because he’s taking hits, the offensive coordinator gets (fired), that is freaking out of line. Franklin never wins a big game. Happy Valley my ass.”

Russo makes a valid point, in his own unique way of course. It’s fair to question Franklin’s in-game decisions and decision to relieve Yurcich of his duties. THe offense was certainly struggling.

Yes, Franklin struggles against the two big boys of the Big Ten, but you can’t take away a 2016 Big Ten Championship. Is Franklin living up to his long-term contract? To some yes, but perhaps to the entire Penn State fanbase, not so much.

Franklin had to explain why he elected to let Yurcich go with two games remaining in the regular season.

“Obviously, the first thing is appreciate the contributions that Coach Yurcich made here,” Franklin said. “Obviously, we made a tough decision that we feel like was in the best interest of the program moving forward. I know there’s going to be some questions and I’ll answer some questions but obviously would like to spend as much time talking about our opponent this week as possible …

“This was my decision but, obviously, I don’t do anything in a silo. I run things up the ladder and have conversations, but yeah, this was my decision.”