What is the Penn State plan for going for it or punting on fourth down? James Franklin explains
Penn State always has a plan for how it will handle any given fourth down on game days. It differs from week to week, though. And how the program approaches it is a timely topic after Saturday’s 21-7 win over Illinois.
The Nittany Lions were 0 for 1 on fourth down. Franklin did not specifically address that miss, which saw quarterback Drew Allar throw short of the sticks while under pressure to receiver Julian Fleming, who ended up being short of the line to gain. The decision to go for it 4th and 3 at the Fighting Illini 17 late in the third quarter, with the home side leading 14-7, made sense in the mind of many, though. The other side of the decision-making tree is the one outside observers wondered about. Facing a 4th and 1 at its own 42 to start the second quarter in a 7-7 game, Penn State elected to punt. Why did Franklin opt to do that? In that particular instance, it was opponent-driven.
“It was obvious that the stadium wanted us to go for it,” Franklin said Monday. “And I would say in a lot of games, I probably would have. But when you’re playing a team like Illinois and Bret Bielema, where they are a field position team; it’s all about field position with them. It’s all about playing great defense, all about playing great special teams; you would play Iowa the same way.
“You want to force them to go the long field. You feel like defensively, even with a punt, you feel like defensively, you should still be able to get the ball back in really good field position, but it’s going to be a field position, tight game, so that’s really what predicated that decision.”
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It initially appeared like the plan would work to perfection. Punter Riley Thompson pinned Illinois at its own 10, and the Fighting Illini eventually faced 3rd and 21 at their own 12. However, they converted and ultimately made it to their own 43 before Hugh Robertson boomed a punt that pinned Penn State at its own 8, which gave the Lions worse field position. Thus, the decision did not necessarily pay off, but the thought process behind making it is logical. And, considering the Lions do not usually give up those kinds of third and longs, it will work more often than it will not.
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As for the overall plan for handling go-for-it or punt decisions on fourth down, Franklin had this to say:
“On offense, I always want Andy [Kotelnicki] to have his call ready after third down. Once he’s made the third down call, I want him to kind of get his fourth down call. I’ve already told him on first down what is a go, so we can handle our sequencing in terms of how we call the offense.
“But then, I’ll usually click over to Tom [Allen] on defense, like I’ve always done with all the defensive coordinators, and say, ‘Hey, what’s your thoughts here? I’m thinking about going for it here. What’s your thoughts?’ Because the result of that play, the defense is going to have to deal with. So I always like to get their feedback. I did that with Manny and Brent as well. But ultimately, it’s going to be my call.”
