Penn State coach James Franklin speaks after Maryland win: Watch
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Penn State coach James Franklin was in a good mood as he spoke with reporters outside of the visiting locker room at Capital One Field.
He had every reason to be.
The Nittany Lions ended a three-game losing streak by beating Maryland 31-14 here on a campus they haven’t lost at in 60 years.
History was not made on this Saturday night, as Jahan Dotson was terrific, Sean Clifford was good enough, and the defense rose to the occasion frequently as it has for most of the season.
Dotson was the star, finishing with a Penn State single-game record 242 yards on 11 catches. Three of them went for touchdowns.
“I’m not surprised at all by what he did tonight,” Franklin said. “They were playing very aggressive man coverage, either cover one or cover zero, but we knew if we got the ball in his hands, he could make those type of plays. He’s really done it his entire career.
“I say it all the time. I’m super proud of not only Jahan Dotson on the football field, but the type of young man he is, how his parents raised him, the type of student he is. He’s a perfect representation of what we want to be at Penn State. I’m not surprised at all. He’s got a very bright future, and I’m a big fan as you could imagine.”
More: Penn State-Maryland takeaways: Jahan Dotson stars, a back to lean on, more
Penn State is now bowl eligible ahead of next week’s showdown with the Michigan Wolverines at Beaver Stadium. A kickoff time and television assignment for that game had not been announced as of 8:55 p.m. ET Saturday night.
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James Franklin’s opening statement after Penn State victory
“Obviously, in the first half, things weren’t as clean as we wanted them to be,” Franklin said. “We had multiple opportunities to put some points on the board, we just missed some missing throws. We were able to mix the run in in the first half, but we just obviously weren’t as efficient as we needed to be on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively tonight, as well as all year long, we’ve kept us in games and they battled. They played, really, championship-level defense all year long. O
“One of the things that was different tonight was we didn’t punt the ball as well, so they kept getting really good field position, and then we were able to get some adjustments made at halftime, we made some of the throws that we missed in the first half, we were able to get some turnovers, and we found a way to get a win. Obviously, the big turnover again was huge. Getting the ball into Jahan Dotson’s hands obviously had a huge impact on the game. Proud of our guys. First half wasn’t as pretty as we want it to be, but then you guys would have nothing to talk about. So, the second half, we came out and I thought played a lot better.”
Below, you can watch Franklin’s nearly 10-minute postgame news conference as Penn State moved to 6-3.
Please note that some questions and answers may be difficult to hear due to a postgame band performance.
