James Franklin reacts to seeing raw emotion from Penn State after Ohio State loss

Penn State head coach James Franklin shared his thoughts on the team’s emotions following a tough loss on the road to Ohio State.

Franklin explained that the loss to Ohio State feels like a missed opportunity. Within that missed opportunity is a silver lining and the ability to grow from the loss moving forward.

“You guys know how hard we work and how much we invest and that’s the players, and that’s the staff and that’s all of us,” James Franklin said. “That’s the fans. That’s everybody. And when you look at some of the ways that we’ve lost to these people, whether it’s by a point, or whether it’s by a possession, or one score, or however you want to look at it, however you want to term it, those are hard as well because you feel like there’s opportunity. So, yeah, it’s tough.”

James Franklin has struggled in big games since getting to Penn State. In particular, he’s struggled against Ohio State, compiling just a 1-9 record against the Buckeyes. He’s been in this position before, but the Nittany Lions can’t afford to let the emotion overly impact their next game.

“But, what we got to do is, we got to move on and learn from it and get back to stacking days and finding ways to get wins. Because I also believe that we got to make sure that this loss doesn’t get us twice, which I think has happened in the past. Because I think of how everybody in the Penn State community responds to these things,” Franklin said.

“So, yeah, I think there was a ton of raw emotion, which when you take how much everybody invests and how much everybody puts into these things, and the physical impact and the emotional impact, in some ways, I’d be more concerned if it wasn’t.”

Penn State will return home next Saturday for a game against Indiana. The Nittany Lions will be big favorites in that game but it’s going to require the team refocusing after the Ohio State game.

James Franklin admits it is fair to judge him for track record in big games

The reality is that James Franklin has struggled in big games. He is just 1-15 against top-10 opponents while at Penn State. Following this most recent loss, Franklin admitted that it’s fair to judge him based on that track record.

“I think it’s more than fair to judge me and my staff for all of it. That’s what it’s about. The good, the bad, the consistency, the lack of success in that game. All of it. That’s totally fair to be judged by all of those things,” Franklin said.

“I also think it’s important to judge the entire body of work, all of it. Which, I don’t need to get into today right now. But it’s totally fair to be judged based on all of those things, the whole body of work. Good and bad.”