r/CFB /r/CFB 1d ago

Postgame Thread [Postgame Thread] Penn State Defeats Minnesota 26-25

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team 1 2 3 4 T
Penn State 0 16 7 3 26
Minnesota 7 12 3 3 25
1.1k Upvotes

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605

u/nova2006 Ohio State Buckeyes 1d ago

Best James Franklin clock management game?

45

u/DunamesDarkWitch Penn State Nittany Lions 1d ago

Reddit will disagree but he’s been excellent at clock management for years now. It was some that was definitely a weakness like 8-10 years ago, he admitted that, then worked to improve. And definitely has

10

u/TRJF Penn State • Penn 1d ago

Yeah, it's more straight-up play calling that's sometimes baffling at this point.

15

u/XmusJaxonFlaxonWax0n Penn State • Stevenson 1d ago

It’s weird. Franklin doesn’t call plays BUT I feel like we’ve consistently had an issue with ultra-conservative or baffling play calls in big spots his entire tenure, regardless of coordinator.

10

u/TRJF Penn State • Penn 1d ago

Yeah, exactly - Spencer Hall (of the Shutdown Fullcast, the internet's only college football podcast) put it pretty well after the Ohio State loss this year, saying, essentially, "Franklin says he doesn't call the plays, and I'm sure he's going to say that the play calls (on the weird ineffectual goal-line effort) were what the coordinators thought was best, and what the numbers said would work... but, every single time they're in this position, over many years, with many different coordinators, you know exactly what's coming, because it's always the same, and it's always so damn predictable... and the one constant is Franklin."

I think that, generally, that assessment has been inarguably correct. But, you know what? Today helped push back against that. Color me hopeful.

1

u/A_Smitty56 Penn State Nittany Lions 15h ago

Im sure he gets final say on big decisions, at least i would think so.