James Franklin apparently has not been aware of all the criticism that’s been levied against coaches for making conservative decisions and not going for wins at the end of games. The Penn State coach made a terrible decision that cost the Nittany Lions at the end of the VRBO Citrus Bowl on Tuesday.
Penn State was down 27-7 to Kentucky in the third quarter and came roaring back with two straight touchdowns to make it 27-21. They drove down to the Wildcats 14 and were facing a 4th-and-7 with just over four minutes left in the game. They were a hot offense and had the chance to finally take the lead.
Do you think Franklin went for all the glory and had his offense go for it to try and take the lead? Or do you think he went conservative, took a field goal, and gave the ball right back to his opponents, who had the lead? If you selected option B, you’d be right.
Penn State kicked a field goal to cut the deficit to three, but they gave the ball back to Kentucky. The Wildcats picked up two first downs before Penn State finally stopped them — after Franklin kept waiting to use his timeouts. They finally forced a punt with a second left. By then, it was too late, and Penn State was sent home with a deserving 27-24 loss. But hey, at least their kicker made his field goal!
This was almost as bad as Franklin’s embarrassing fourth down call earlier this season.
