James Franklin describes how weather impacted game vs. SMU in College Football Playoff first round

One of the major factors that a lot of fans were monitoring in the first round of the College Football Playoffs was the weather, with a few of the locations featuring some biting cold and strong wind.

Penn State hosted SMU in such conditions, and while Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee downplayed the impact of the weather, Nittany Lions coach James Franklin did not.

“I think the conditions affected both teams and both offenses, specifically going the direction of our tunnel,” Franklin said. “If you look, I think their guy missed a short field goal as well. And I say a short field goal, a field goal that more times than not you’d have the leg for. But yeah, going in that direction affected us on offense.”

One way the weather impact was obvious came early in the game. Penn State faced a fourth-and-13 from the SMU 29-yard line, yet opted to go for it rather than attempt a field goal.

“That’s why we went for it on fourth-and-13,” Franklin said. “We did not feel comfortable kicking in that direction based on the weather, specifically the wind.”

In any case, the weather seemed to work in Penn State’s favor. The Nittany Lions were certainly more used to playing in the cold, and it seemed to show at times.

At the very least, how the game was called was subtly impacted.

“Yeah, I think for both offenses the cold weather had a little bit of an impact, but I think moreso the combination of the wind with that as well had a factor in the game,” Franklin said. “So I think it really impacted how both coaches tried to manage the game. It impacted how both offenses had to manage the game, but it also impacted special teams.”

Franklin broke down exactly where it impacted special teams. His team actually failed to take advantage at one point.

“That’s one of the reasons why I was so disappointed,” Franklin said. “We had a choice, right? So to start the second half do we want to take the ball and the wind or did we want the wind in the fourth quarter? So we decided to take the wind in the third quarter, try to put the game away in the third quarter and then run the ball in the fourth quarter and run the game out was our plan. That’s why I was so disappointed when we kicked off, we kicked a line drive.

“They got a really good return where our thought was we were going to be able to kick them deep, either kick them out of the end zone, pin them deep, put them in a situation backed up out of their own end zone, or at least the 25-yard line, and have to go into the wind. Hopefully get a three-and-out or a turnover, get our offense the ball back in really good field position and then really be able to take over the game in the third quarter. That was a little bit disappointing, but all those things factored into decision-making and game management.”