Penn State's James Franklin Addresses Officiating in Big Ten Title Game

The Nittany Lions coach said a pass ruled incomplete in the second half was "too important" not to review.

Penn State coach James Franklin shakes hands with Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning in the 2024 Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

INDIANAPOLIS | Penn State coach James Franklin dipped a toe delicately into the officiating of Saturday night's Big Ten Championship Game, referring specifically to one play as "too important" not to review.

Franklin addressed a fourth-quarter pass from Penn State quarterback Drew Allar to receiver Omari Evans that was ruled incomplete at the Oregon 35-yard line. Franklin berated the officiating crew on the field, stalked the sideline and even walked down to vent momentarily with Penn State Athletic Director Patrick Kraft. The Nittany Lions ultimately overcame that call, scoring a touchdown on the drive, but Franklin still was unsure why the play went unreviewed.

"There was a couple calls that we didn't get that I thought we should have," Franklin said after the Ducks' 45-37 win over Penn State. "One of the calls that I thought was a critical point in the game was the two-minute drive with a catch on the sideline to Omari, I thought was a catch. And looking on the Jumbotron, it looked like it was a catch. I get you're going to miss some calls, but it's two minutes. So everybody says, okay, well, slow down so they can review the drive. It's a 2-minute drive. We can't slow down. In a critical game like that, in my opinion, they should have buzzed down and checked that.

"We'll watch the video of it. Maybe I'm wrong. But what I saw on the field and on the Jumbotron, that was a catch. And you can't miss those calls in these types of games, especially when you've got replay. Just buzz down. It's too important."

James Franklin was not happy after this was ruled incomplete. pic.twitter.com/g1OJYeNrKy

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Penn State was penalized five times for 64 yards, all in the first half, including four critical penalties that impacted scoring drives. The Nittany Lions were called twice for unnecessary roughness and twice for facemasks, none of which Franklin disputed. "I can deal with facemask penalties," he said. "They're going to happen sometimes when you're just playing. That's going to happen from time to time. The other things we've got to get eliminated."

Franklin also referenced several potential penalties that he thought the officials missed. One involved quarterback Drew Allar getting hung up in a pile and slammed to the ground. The coach further mentioned that the game went without a holding penalty. Penn State recorded one sack and six tackles for loss, none of which involved defensive ends Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton

"I think the other thing that factored in is, we weren't able to get as many sacks and tackles for loss in this game that we're used to and get them off schedule," Franklin said "I'll be interested to watch that film as well, and with Abdul Carter and Dani Dennis-Sutton we've been able to produce sacks and
pressure, as well as Dvon and the boys inside. And I could be wrong, but there wasn't one holding call in the game. That will be interesting to watch.

"And I don't want this to come off the wrong way. I give Oregon a ton of credit, but the penalties were pretty lopsided, and I have more of an issue with the ones that could have been reviewed. The nonreviewable ones, they're going to happen. But the ones that need to be reviewed, need to be reviewed, in my opinion."

Oregon was penalized three times for 24 yards.

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