Penn State head coach James Franklin raised some eyebrows during his team’s season opener against West Virginia at Beaver Stadium on Saturday night.
The Nittany Lions had possession of the football and held a definitive 31-15 lead with just 13 seconds left on the game clock. In such a scenario, most fans would expect the winning side to simply take the knee and run out the clock. But with Penn State positioned at 2nd-and-goal, Franklin decided otherwise.
Backup QB Beau Pribula took the snap and managed to sneak his way into the end zone for a touchdown. The play plus the extra point yielded a final score of 38-15.
— doodleBob (@313clips) September 3, 2023
The last-second TD didn’t impact the game’s end result. However, it was conspicuously the winning play for bettors who took Penn State’s -20.5 spread over West Virginia. It also pushed the game total to 53, which just barely cleared the game’s over/under line of 52.
Some fans were quick to point out the rather glaring coincidence that overlapped with Franklin’s decision to score a seemingly inconsequential TD.
You can’t tell me James Franklin didn’t know what the spread and total was in tonight’s game. He covered both with 6 seconds left when he could’ve taken a knee…lmao.
— BeatinTheBookie.com®️ (@BeatinTheBookie) September 3, 2023
James Franklin didn’t take the knee and got the over pic.twitter.com/uG3eLDilRU
— Memes (@PardonMyMeme) September 3, 2023
James Franklin. Unbelievable – he knew the number
— Paul Howard (@paulyhoward) September 3, 2023
James Franklin wanted to make sure the score showed a statement win. Don't like it? Stop them. This is a season about impressing for the Nittany Lions.
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) September 3, 2023
Controversy aside, Franklin still got the most important end result that he was looking for — a win for Penn State.
