A Final Drive Befitting James Franklin's Penn State Past and Future

The Lions scored with 6 seconds left vs. West Virginia. Bettors reacted. But Franklin's decision was consistent.

Penn State's James Franklin made some new friends — and antagonized a few others — in the betting community Saturday night with his decision to run backup quarterback Beau Pribula for a very late touchdown in a 38-15 win over West Virginia. Pribula scored from the 5-yard line with 6 seconds remaining, lifting Penn State to cover the 21-point spread and the game's final score above the 50-point line. 

(Content warning: Here are some of the folks upset with Franklin's decision.)

"I wouldn't have done it, but it doesn’t bother me," West Virginia coach Neal Brown told reporters after the game. "Stuff like that, what comes around goes around. At some point, it’ll come back around. I don't know when. It doesn't bother me. I’m not upset about it."

Franklin wasn't asked directly about the final series but note the importance of getting Pribula and the second-team offense on the field late in the game against West Virginia. The redshirt freshman quarterback made his Penn State debut, leading the Lions on a nine-play, 46-yard touchdown drive in the game's last 4 minutes. He converted a 4th-and-2 pass in the red zone, changing a play against West Virginia's defense, that led to 2nd-and-goal. Then, instead of having Pribula kneel out the game, Penn State called Pribula's number with 12 seconds remaining. The quarterback rushed for his first career touchdown, drawing a celebratory chorus on Penn State's sideline.

"To get the second offense in there and the backup quarterback in there, and for them to be able to move the ball down the field and get a score, was big," Franklin said.

The play shouldn't have surprised anyone familiar with Franklin's career. The coach has proven that he'll exhaust the clock coaching his team. In 2018, Franklin challenged a called fumble with 1 minute remaining in his team's 51-6 win over Pitt (the call stood). And in 2017, Georgia State lined up for a 31-yard field goal trailing 56-0 with 11 seconds left. Franklin called a timeout, which many analyzed as icing the Georgia State kicker. Not true, Franklin said. He called the timeout to swap his fourth-team defense, which was on the field, with his field-goal block unit. He also referred to one of his four core values: "Compete in everything you do."

To those who thought he should have given Georgia State the field goal, Franklin said after that game, "If that's how you feel, you won't ever understand me and you won't ever understand us." He'd likely apply that statement to Saturday's game as well.

Brown also declared his competitiveness Saturday, albeit in a different context, by calling his last two timeouts on Pribula's series when it was a two-score game. Pribula effectively ended the game by running for 11 yards on 3rd-and-10, tacking on an extra 15 yards via a facemask penalty.

Further, Penn State certainly ran that final series thinking of the past while preparing for the future. In 2021, the Lions were unbeaten and ranked No. 4 nationally when they visited then-No. 3 Iowa. Quarterback Sean Clifford led Penn State to a 17-3 lead before being injured. Backup quarterback Ta'Quan Roberson wasn't prepared for the moment, contributing to eight false-start penalties that helped Iowa claim momentum. The Hawkeyes won 23-20, and the Lions lost six of their last eight games.

As a result, getting quarterback Drew Allar onto the field as a freshman in 2022 was imperative. As is getting Pribula field time this year.

"It's something to build on," Franklin said late Saturday night at Beaver Stadium. "There's going to be a different style [with Pribula]. He's still able to throw the ball and be successful. We didn't ask him to do that in this game based on what the score was and where the ball was. But there are some things that are going to show up in Beau’s game that he’s going to help us this year."

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich. And consider subscribing (button's on the home page) for more great content across the SI.com network.