James Franklin Responds to Penn State Football Being Called 'Classless' For Late Touchdown

During any season there are going to be times where the head coach of the opposing team does not agree with one of the decisions made by his counterpart on the other sideline, and Saturday night Penn State Football head coach James Franklin found himself in one of those situations.

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown was not happy about Franklin having his backups in the game, and calling a run up the middle by quarterback Beu Pribula that the Nittany Lions scored a touchdown on with just :06 remaining.

An exclamation point on the night for @PennStateFball's first win of the season❕ pic.twitter.com/JEkUvrP3Qy

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 3, 2023

“I wouldn’t have done it,” Brown told reporters after the game. “But it doesn’t bother me, Stuff like that, what comes around goes around. At some point, it’ll come back around. I don’t know when. It doesn’t bother me. I’m not upset about it.”

During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Franklin responded to Brown’s criticism.

“I guess everybody looks at it differently, right?” Franklin said. “For me, I believe that my responsibility in those type of situations is to get my twos in the game.

“But, I think once those twos get in the game, then they deserve the right and the chance to play and compete. That’s what I believe.”

While Drew Allar emerged as Penn State‘s No. 1 quarterback, and authored a sensational performance that garnered Big Ten Offensive Player of The Week recognition, sources within the program have insisted that the coaching staff is high on Pribula and optimistic about his long-term future in Happy Valley.

In the era of the transfer portal, and NIL, moments like Saturday night’s drive could prove pivotal to keeping Pribula out of the transfer portal and part of the Lions’ future after Allar becomes NFL Draft eligible following the 2024 campaign.

Not to mention the possible style points Saturday’s touchdown gives Franklin’s team in a possible run to the College Football Playoff that hinges on impressing voters each week.

“I believe that from the opening kick to the last whistle, you compete and you play,” Franklin said. “Now if you leave your ones in, that’s a different story. Then you should change how you play. And you take knees and you run in situations that you normally wouldn’t run in. That’s different.

“But, when your twos go in the game, those guys get a limited amount of reps. They should have a chance to compete. I believe that not just from a Penn State perspective. If we’re ever in that situation, I see it the same way, this isn’t me looking at it just from our view. I got a bunch of other things I could say, but I’m just going to leave it at that. That is my philosophy and our philosophy.

“I think when our two offense was in there against the majority of their ones, they have a chance to compete. And I think Beau getting in there and being able to run the offense — they went to cover zero, which it’s hard to run when you go cover zero — Beau should have the ability to check to our cover zero plan and have a chance to execute a play that has a chance to be successful against cover zero. And then should have a chance to score. So I’m comfortable with that. I can’t do a whole lot more than that and I’ll leave it at that.”