Every Penn State beat reporter knew how James Franklin’s postgame presser following Saturday’s 34-27 win over Bowling Green would go.
Penn State played poorly overall, which is why it fell four touchdowns short of covering the spread.
Sometimes, coaches are critical of teams following these types of wins. Watch Bob Knight here after his Indiana squad struggled to beat lowly Northwestern
Remember when Brian Kelly joked that his Notre Dame team “should be executed?” He gave that line after his Notre Dame team beat Florida State.
This isn’t Franklin’s style.
Although he’s never gave an explanation for this— and, no, I’m not expecting anybody to ask “hey, James, why didn’t you rip the team Saturday?” in this week’s availability— my theory is that part of this is because Franklin feels he can’t criticize his team too much without discrediting the opponent.
This approach surely makes a portion of fans shake their heads and doesn’t make for great content on the media’s end.
But another reason Franklin isn’t too critical after winning is because he believes any win— whether it’s against Ohio State, Bowling Green or the Little Sisters of the Poor— is to be appreciated.
“Winning is hard,” Franklin said after a closer-than-expected 17-7 win over Northwestern in 2022. “It is hard week-in and week-out.”
“Really proud of our guys, Franklin said after last year’s 38-31 win over Indiana as 31-point favorites. “Battled, were resilient. Found a way to get a win. Found ways to make plays at critical moments.”
Yesterday’s presser was no different.
“There’s a ton of teams across the country that will be trying to make corrections after a loss,” Franklin said, “and we got to make a bunch of corrections after a win, and obviously we got some work to do.”
Two outcomes that went final well after Franklin finished speaking proved the coach’s point.
In South Bend, Indiana, 28.5 point underdog Northern Illinois upset No. 5 Notre Dame on a field goal in the final minute.
IT'S A PARTY 🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️@NIU_Football | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/KyfIyHTUcR
— #MACtion (@MACSports) September 7, 2024
Hours later, Oregon escaped with a win, but like Penn State, it wasn’t easy.
The seventh-ranked team in the country was favored by 19.5 and needed a last-second field goal to win 34-31.
This came a week after Oregon won by 10 and led by 7 in the fourth quarter… against Idaho.
You think Idaho would beat Bowling Green?
There were other examples of shenanigans throughout the top 25. No. 16 Oklahoma State (-9.5 at home) needed 2OT to beat Arkansas. No. 17 Kansas State (-9.5) needed to come back from down 10 at the half to win by seven at Tulane. No. 23 Georgia Tech lost at Syracuse. No. 21 Iowa lost at home to Iowa State. Even mighty Alabama was up by only one with seven minutes left at home… to South Florida.
Maybe there is reason to be concerned about Penn State.
Giving up 24 points in one half should never happen to a PSU defense in Beaver Stadium, let along to a MAC school. But college football is a funny game, and as yesterday showed, even the best teams have issues against “inferior” competition.
With that said, Penn State’s next game is against Kent State, who just lost to St. Francis. So Franklin’s “winning is hard” words would not be welcomed after a close win against Kent State.
