James Franklin isn’t looking for an easy way out. On Tuesday, the Penn State head coach took full responsibility for his team’s loss to Ohio State this weekend.
“It’s always on me when things don’t go well,” Franklin said. “I was going to say in the press conference after getting that win — it was going to be obviously to praise the players. What was the difference this year in being able to get that win. It was going to be about the players and some other things that I wanted to talk about, but that didn’t happen.”
No, it did not. Penn State fell 20-12 to Ohio State on Saturday, the team’s sixth-straight loss to the Buckeyes. The Nittany Lions’ offense sputtered in the outing, only tallying 240 total yards. In fairness, Penn State struggled to get Ohio State’s offense off the field.
The Buckeyes had possession for nearly 35 minutes of the 60-minute game. Penn State’s offense certainly didn’t burn any clock. The team picked up just 49 rushing yards in the loss. Although the Lions committed zero turnovers and only five penalties, the game felt mistake-ridden.
Penn State must fix it now or never
Franklin takes the blame for the off-kilter showing.
“When it doesn’t happen, it is ultimately on me and my responsibility. There’s no doubt about that,” Franklin said. “There’s no gray area about that whatsoever. Is it nuanced and is there a lot of things that go into that, that ultimately no one really cares about at that time? Yes.
“There’s no doubt about it. But, at the end of the day, the most important thing is for me to take responsibility and, and do everything within my power to get it fixed.”
Penn State’s future depends on it. In three weeks, the Nittany Lions will face off against another Big Ten top dog: No. 2 Michigan. Penn State has had better luck against the Wolverines in the past, most recently defeating them in 2020.
Nonetheless, Michigan is no slouch this season. The Wolverines are 8-0 and no team is yet to come with in three scores of them. If Penn State can’t down Jim Harbaugh and Co., it can put its College Football Playoff hopes to rest.
Perhaps Michigan’s cheating scandal can steal the Wolverines’ attention long enough for Penn State to slip by. However, before Penn State can look ahead it must deal with Indiana. On Saturday, Penn State will take on the Hoosiers at noon ET on CBS.
