James Franklin reveals why Penn State committed eight false-start penalties

James Franklin watched as his offense committed a frustrating eight false-start penalties against Iowa. After losing their starting quarterback Sean Clifford, the wheels fell off the bus for the Penn State offense.

In his post-game press conference, Franklin recognized that the penalties became a serious issue for the Nittany Lions. However, he believes it was a combination of factors that led to a tough look for Penn State.

“We didn’t have an issue with crowd noise until we lost Sean,” stated Franklin. “We’re responsible for all of it, we use the same system with Sean as we did with Ta’Quan [Roberson] and it didn’t work. Obviously it became a serious issue in the game.

“I would say, it is a tough environment. Their entire stadium is standing up and pouring their energy into the players on the field. It makes a significant impact. Same system that we’ve used, never really had an issue with it. We did it in the first half with Sean and had no issues, but we did have issues in the second half with Ta’Quan so we’re going to have to look at that.”

After losing Clifford to injury, the Nittany Lions were simply trying to hang on for dear life. Franklin watched helplessly as his offense failed to get anything going, relying on his defense and special teams to grind out a victory.

Alas, it was too much to ask, as the Iowa Hawkeyes offense eventually found a way to put some points on the board. In the end, Iowa sent Penn State home with a 23-20 loss.

Many may believe that had Clifford not been injured, James Franklin’s team would’ve walked to a victory. Essentially, Penn State played the rest of the game without an offense after his injury took place.

Still, no matter who the quarterback is — eight false-start penalties will hurt regardless.