Penn State football coach James Franklin owned his team’s eighth straight defeat to the Ohio State Buckeyes, and all of the introspection and team-fixing that goes along with it.
This, too, he acknowledged during his weekly Monday press conference: That an improved, reset Penn State could ultimately earn the right to play those Buckeyes once again this season.
His players, like veteran linebacker Kobe King, talked about it immediately after Saturday’s close, crushing loss in which they committed too many costly penalties, got far too little offense and couldn’t defend tough enough at the very end.
It is well-worth motivation in the world of expanded College Football Playoffs, Franklin said.
The first step there for the No. 7 Nittany Lions (7-1 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) will be to conquer their Saturday White Out against Washington in Beaver Stadium. The game will be televised only on Peacock, NBC’s streaming service.
“I’m totally good with those guys speaking how they felt at the moment. I’m totally fine with them having enough confidence and having enough grit and determination and anger that they want a second shot,” Franklin said. “And in today’s college football that’s a reality in ways it probably hasn’t been in the past.
“It wasn’t my message in the locker room, but there were people talking about it. And I’m totally fine with that. I think what the message is, the way I interpret (it), is that we want to play well enough to continue playing as a team and as a family as long as we possibly can.
“In today’s college football, those things are possible, they’re realistic.”
In the past, losses to the Buckeyes and, often times Michigan, ultimately ruined the Lions’ shot at qualifying for the four-team playoff. But with a larger, 12-team format beginning at the end of this season, not only are more slots available, one or maybe even two defeats isn’t a death notice.
This season, one-loss Ohio State will be favored in each of its remaining games and is expected to make the playoffs − even with a slip-up to undefeated Indiana or in the Big Ten Championship Game. Same for one-loss Penn State, which is expected to beat Washington, Purdue, Minnesota and Maryland to end November.
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Both the Lions and Buckeyes should be comfortably inside the Top 10 in the CFP’s first rankings release Tuesday night.
That means no matter how they get into playoffs − whether by earning a bye with a Big Ten Championship victory or as one of eight at-large teams − they could meet again. Possibly, even in Beaver or Ohio Stadiums in a first-round, on-campus match-up.
They also could play each other at a traditional bowl site in one of the ensuing playoff rounds if each is successful early on.
“It means we definitely, hopefully, get another chance to see (those) guys again, make things different,” King said after the Ohio State game. “We can rewind and play again …”
Defensive end Abdul Carter promised as much on social media.
To do this, though, Penn State must fix its faults that were damning against the Buckeyes.
Most glaring was coming away with no points − twice − after earning first downs on the 3 yard line to end the first half and, again, with eight minutes to play.
On the last, the Lions were denied a tying touchdown four times, including three straight-ahead runs by tailback Kaytron Allen. Tight end Tyler Warren, a do-everything star, didn’t touch the ball.
Franklin dissected that series a couple of times on Monday.
“We didn’t get movement up front. We got two of the better running backs in the country. You want to try to feed those guys and allow them to get down the hill,” he said of Allen and Nick Singleton. “They’ve done a really good job of it. Not only this year, but kind of throughout their careers. I think that’s the right thing to do.
“But I also think there’s a there’s a piece where you can say, in critical moments, you got to think players not plays, and you know, maybe in one of those three downs, at least, you got to make sure Tyler Warren touches the ball. However that is, whether it’s wildcat, whether that’s in the passing game, or whether that is as a ball carrier.
“But at the end of the day, the reality is you got to be able to create movement and score when you need one yard.”
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
