Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1041428
P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L >> very once in a while, James Franklin would peer up at the rafters during the news con- ference that followed Penn State's 27-26 loss to Ohio State last month. The Nittany Lions had played about as well as they're capable of playing for 52 minutes then saw everything fall apart in the final eight, as the Buckeyes overcame a 12-point deficit to send the biggest crowd in Beaver Stadium history home dejected. It was a cruel reprise of the teams' previous meeting, in which the Lions squandered a 15-point fourth- quarter lead at the Horseshoe. As Franklin spoke to the media after the game, it might have seemed as though he was looking to the sky for answers. In a way, he was. The media room at Beaver Stadium has a rec- tangular opening in the ceiling that allows guests in the lounge above to watch the postgame presser. The guests often include recruits and their families, and people crowd around the railing to hear what the coach has to say. Franklin had a lot to say after the Ohio State game, almost none of it about the game itself. He talked mostly about the big picture – about where the Nittany Lions find themselves in the sport's hi- erarchy in 2018 and what they need to do next if they want to keep moving up. Agonizing losses like the one that Penn State suffered against its most vexing rival have a way of making even the most outgoing coach clam up, but Franklin offered a 650-word opening statement before fielding his first question. His audience was ostensibly the throng of reporters arrayed before him tapping away at their lap- tops, but large portions of his message appeared to be aimed at the attendees looking on from above. When he talked about the need for im- provement, he was careful to mention the im- portance of attending class consistently. He said players needed to take their academics seriously so that the coaches "can spend our time devel- oping you as men and as people and as players." It was exactly the sort of message that the par- ent of any recruit would want to hear. It also touched on athletics, of course, serving as an impromptu State of the Program address. That part, too, contained a covert recruiting pitch: Help us take this thing to the next level. "The reality is that we have gone from an average football team to a good football team to a great foot- ball team," Franklin said. "We've worked hard to do those things, but we are not an elite football team yet. As hard as we've worked to go from average to good, and from good to FINISHING KICK E James Franklin has gotten the Penn State football program back up to speed, but as recent losses have shown, the Lions still aren't where they want to be. So what's the next step? CATCH AND RUN K.J. Hamler dashes past Ohio State safety Isaiah Pryor for a 93-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The score gave PSU a 13-0 lead. Photo by Steve Manuel