Mike Locksley thought final Penn State touchdown was 'bulls---'; James Franklin defends it
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula hit freshmen receiver Tyseer Denmark in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard score as time expired to give the Nittany Lions a 44-7 victory over Maryland. When Penn State coach James Franklin and Terrapins coach Mike Locksley met for their postgame handshake, the latter didn’t appear to care for the former’s decision to throw for a score late. He then made those thoughts crystal clear in his postgame news conference.
“Bulls— is what it was,” Locksley said. “I respect the game. Got a lot of respect for James [Franklin], his program. I think it was bulls—.”
Asked about the exchange and decision, Franklin defended it by more or less saying that A. the Penn Stte backups deserve to run the offense like the starters, B. a version of “if you don’t want us to score, stop us from doing so,” and C. The College Football Playoff selection committee is watching.
“I get it, but a couple things I will say,” Franklin said when asked about the exchange. “It’s my job to put the threes and fours into the game. But when the threes and fours get to go into the game, they get to play football. Those guys deserve to play football. Your ones are in the game. You were trying to score, we’re trying to score. On top of that, you’re playing Cover 0. If you don’t want [that], play Cover 2. So, I’m good with it.
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“On top of that, there’s also a change in college football. [Penn State] is trying to play as long as we can, make the playoffs, and be seeded as high as possible and scoring as many points and a point differential matters. All that matters. If you don’t get that, it’s really not my problem.”
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It’s hard not to side with the Penn State coach’s point of view, especially the second part of the answer. Some will question the sportsmanship aspect of it, considering that Penn State was up by a ton and could have simply taken a knee. But, at the end of the day, preparing backups to play and winning by as much as possible matters, too. And that’s especially so when Maryland did have some, if not all, of its first-team defense still on the field against the Penn State backup offense.
Penn State now moves on to face Oregon in the Big Ten title game. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET Saturday in Indianapolis. CBS will televise the contest from Lucas Oil Stadium.
