Franklin responds to Iowa's insinuation that PSU players faked injuries
Penn State Nittany Lions football head coach James Franklin had been waiting for the question.
Taking up his notecard, Franklin addressed the implication made by Iowa Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz earlier this week that Penn State players had been faking injuries for strategic reasons during the game between the two programs last weekend.
Iowa fans had boo'ed injured Nittany Lions throughout the game, which Franklin lamented in his postgame comments. Ferentz responded to that during his press conference with the media this week.
"I think probably it's a reaction to there were a couple guys that were down for the count and then were back a play or two later and our fans aren't stupid, they're watching, they know what's going on," Ferentz said. "I've been here 23 years I think that's only the second time we have seen that kind of stuff going on.
"I thought they smelled a rat, I guess, I don't know, so they responded the way they responded."
Franklin, it is safe to say, does not share the same view.
With extensive notes written on a sheet of paper tucked into the waistband of his pants, Franklin set about illustrating his counterpoints.
"I kind of wrote some things down because I thought this was coming," Franklin said. "First of all I would ask anybody that's listening to take your Penn State hat off or take your Iowa hat off, I'm just going to talk in what I believe, and what I think, from a strategy standpoint, from a common-sense perspective, from what's good for football, in my opinion, college football. How does this strategy make sense against a huddle team?"
"People use this strategy to slow people down. Spread offenses, tempo offenses. They huddle, so that strategy did not make sense in this situation, and in our six years of playing them, six years straight, 4-2 with our record, has that ever shown up? Has anybody seen that? In my eight years as a head coach, has that showed up at Penn State? In my 12 years as a head coach has that showed up? Has not showed up."
Franklin said that the strategy is not coached or taught by anyone at Penn State.
He pointed out that several of the players who went down injured did not return in the game. Defensive tackle PJ Mustipher is out for the season. Quarterback Sean Clifford did not return, nor did running backs Devyn Ford and John Lovett, nor safety Jonathan Sutherland.
Among the others who went down were Jaquan Brisker and Arnold Ebiketie, two of the most important players on Penn State's defense. Losing them for a play to slow down the Iowa offense, Franklin argued, makes little sense.
"AK, maybe our best defensive player, and his probably looked the worst," Franklin said. "He went down. Maybe it's because he plays so hard and he was cramping, but am I going to tell AK to go down and not play a play on defense? Does that make any sense? Brisker, he went down twice against Wisconsin. They didn't boo him."
Franklin reiterated his difficulty stomaching the emotional aspect of the booing from the fans, particularly as it related to Mustipher, one of Penn State's leaders who had his season cut short.
"Put yourself in the shoes of a parent," Franklin said. "Your son is down on the field for an injury, and the stadium is booing them. We didn't just boo that. We booed balls falling off tees by the wind. I don't know who we're booing for that. We weren't gaining an advantage of that. But, your son's down on the field with an injury, and I just told, PJ Mustipher is done for the year, and we're booing. Is that good for college football? Is that good for college football?"
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