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After a third straight loss, Penn State head coach James Franklin was not about to make any excuses this time. After Penn State’s 22-21 loss to Northwestern in front of a displeased homecoming crowd, Franklin felt the weight of the world on his shoulders as he watched his players leave the field, and his starting quarterback leave the field on a cart with a season-ending injury.
In his postgame comments, Franklin gave credit to Northwestren head coach David Braun but said his team should have been the one celebrating at the end.
“First of all, you have to give Northwestern and Coach Braun a ton of credit,” Franklin said in his postgame press conference. “We shouldn’t lose that game. It’s 100% on me, and we have to get it fixed, and I will get it fixed.”
There is a lot to fix, of course, as Penn State seems like a program that is stuck in a rut knowing its shot at a College Football Playoff is now entirely out of reach. After a shocking loss last week at UCLA, Franklin said the entire program tried everything it could to keep positive vibes flowing throughout the week leading up to the home game against the Wildcats, but perhaps it was not enough.
“We have worked really hard to keep the building as positive as we possibly can and close out all that noise,” Franklin said when asked about the potential distractions for his team with regard to his future. “But for me to say that it doesn’t impact them, would not be honest.”
Franklin has always been a coach to feel what his players are feeling, and this week was no different.
“For me, it’s always been about our players, and those guys are hurting right now. And the fans are frustrated, and I totally get it,” Franklin said after the game. “We have great fans here. We get unbelievable support. I understand their frustration. Trust me. We’re as frustrated as anybody, the guys in the locker room. But to me, ultimately, it’s about the guys. It’s about the guys in the locker room, and they’re hurting in there, and I’d do anything I could to take that hurt away from them.”
Franklin went on to explain that this is all a new experience for the prorgam under his watch, which is fair to suggest. Given the overall sustained success of the program, being mired in this jarring three-game losing streak really is a new form of adversity for a program that returned so much and invested as much as it did to take the next step from last season’s playoff run.
“We’ve had some adversity in the past, not like this, and we’re going to get to work. I love those kids. I am committed to those players in that locker room, and I’ve been that way for 12 years. I’ve been that way for 15 years of my head coaching career, and I’ve been that way for 30 years. That won’t change.”
At the end of his comments, Franklin asserted once again that he takes ownership for the shortcomings of the football prorgam, and confirmed his commitment to seeing things turn around.
“I take full responsibility for what happened tonight,” Franklin said. “I take full responsibility for what’s happened this season, and I’m committed to the guys in that locker room.”
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