Penn State: James Franklin talks about gutsy win over Wisconsin

The Penn State Nittany Lions picked up a massive opening Big Ten victory over Wisconsin on Saturday.

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.”

The game was far from pretty and Franklin acknowledged there is plenty of work ahead.

“We have to be more consistent,” Franklin said. “That’s being able to run the ball consistently, and obviously getting the ball into our playmakers’ hands.”

Penn State was stagnant much of the afternoon, but wide receiver Jahon Dotson was clearly the difference.

“Once we got Jahon Dodson involved, everything else opened from there,” Franklin noted. “We will learn from it, we will grow, I’m super thankful. I’m just super happy for our guys and for our program. It’s a big win.”

PSU loses top linebacker to targeting

Penn State had to finish their game against Wisconsin on Saturday without one of their best players. Linebacker Ellis Brooks was ejected with just under six minutes left in a 16-10 game. 

Ouch 😳

Mertz takes a huge hit from Brooks that was confirmed as targeting after review. Brooks has been disqualified from the remainder of the game. pic.twitter.com/89pfzBhcqe

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 4, 2021

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.

Penn State opener was a defensive slog, especially in the first half

Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford, who the Nittany Lions need to have a big year, had just 42 yards in the first half after going 7-for-14.

He redeemed himself in the latter half of the game, finishing 18-for-33 with 247 yards and a touchdown.

There was a lot of offseason hype surrounding a Penn State running back room with a lot of depth; they could play five backs pretty regularly. The unit had just two yards in the first half and finished with 50. Running back Noah Cain had 48 of the yards and the only ground touchdown on the day for the Nittany Lions.

While they won the game, their 16 points was well under the 29.8 points per game they averaged last season.

Head coach James Franklin is now 6-2 in season openers. No. 12 Wisconsin was the first ranked opponent the Nittany Lions have faced to start the season under Franklin.