Penn State: James Franklin weighs in on Ellis Brooks targeting call

James Franklin spoke to reporters after Penn States thrilling victory over Wisconsin on Saturday. The Nittany Lions’ front man addressed the targeting call against star linebacker Ellis Brooks.

“It was a tough call,” Franklin said. “The way I understand the rule is you can’t necessarily call targeting unless you use the crown of your helmet, but I get it. We are going to do everything to protect the student athletes so I get it, it was a tough call for Ellis but I thought he played very well.”

Targeting was not initially called on the field, but after reviewing the personal foul, that was the final decision. Brooks will miss the first half of Penn State’s game against Ball State next week as a result of the call.

The ejection was controversial in the college football stratosphere, causing outrage from viewers and FOX Sports color commentator Joel Klatt. Klatt called the ejection a “disgrace.”

Brooks was having a great game at the time of the ejection. He led the team with seven tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss at the conclusion of the first quarter.

The linebacker was not the only one on the defense having a good opener. The Penn State defense held Wisconsin to 132 yards in the first half. Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz was 7-for-11 with 42 yards. Mertz threw interceptions on Wisconsin’s final two drives. The Badgers also missed a field goal and fumbled the ball, both in the red zone, in the first half.

Brooks started all nine games for the Nittany Lions last season. He led the team with 60 tackles, and he had 5.5 tackles for loss, one sack and two forced fumbles.

James Franklin on gutsy in-conference road win

It’s hard to overstate the importance of Saturday’s massive early Big Ten win over a nationally-ranked rival.

Penn State head coach James Franklin was obviously emotional when talking about the win on the FOX broadcast in the moments right after the conclusion in Madison.

“I’m just super proud of the entire team,” Franklin said while fighting back his emotions. “That’s a gutsy win, on the road in a hostile environment. Obviously our defense played unbelievable. Obviously the analytics people are going to talk about time of possession, it’s going to be interesting, and you guys probably know better than me. Explosive plays and turnovers I think are going to be the obvious difference in the game, but I don’t know the total stats.”

While Sean Clifford and the Nittany Lions weren’t perfect, Franklin needed a statement win to start the 2021 campaign. He got it in a major way.