Penn State's James Franklin on Penalties: 'It Embarrasses Me'

The Penn State coach vented that his team was flagged for seven more penalties against Kent State.

Penn State coach James Franklin reacts from the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Kent State Golden Flashes at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

STATE COLLEGE | Amid all the goodwill Penn State collected Saturday, the players knew what was coming. Nittany Lions coach James Franklin would have some words for them about the continuing penalty saga. They were prepared.

"He takes a lot of pride in that," running back Nicholas Singleton said after Penn State's 56-0 win over Kent State. "The penalties kill us. We don't need them. He lets us know."

Penn State committed seven more penalties, totaling 65 yards, Saturday against the Golden Flashes, dampening Franklin's mood about the win. The Nittany Lions set school records for total yards (718) and first downs (40) and pitched their first defensive shutout of the season. Yet when Franklin was asked about the penalties, his mood soured. Fast.

"I'm totally bald now," Franklin said. "I'm basically gray, so there's not a whole lot left I can lose. I guess, gain weight, eating from stress and embarrassment of penalties. But I ain't got a whole lot left, you know, in terms of what else, right? Maybe gray eyebrows, that's probably the last thing that goes. But I'm not happy about it at all. So we're going to have a lot of discussions about it as a staff, and we're going to work on getting it fixed."

Penn State's seven penalties actually lowered its season average, which was 7.5 entering the game, but that didn't comfort Franklin. The Nittany Lions' 65 penalty yards were just two fewer than Kent State gained offensively. In particular, the defensive mistakes have been a continuing source of frustration.

Penn State committed three more defensive offsides penalties, bringing its total to nine in three games. Franklin also was caught by Big Ten Network cameras shouting "that's two penalties!" to a redshirt freshman offensive lineman who was called for holding and a personal foul in the span of four plays.

Now, as Franklin noted, the penalties haven't been a big-picture issue for the Nittany Lions. They entered the game 14th in the Big Ten in average penalties per game (7.5). Two teams, Washington and Michigan State, averaged in double digits. And in the grand scheme, penalties usually don't impact final scores as much as explosive plays and turnovers. Still, Franklin wants them curtailed, particularly the pre-snap penalties that cause so much angst.

"Yeah, I don't like them," he said. "I don't like them at all, to be honest with you. You know, if you look
at the analytics and the statistics, they don't really have a significant impact when you talk about winning and losing. But as a head coach, it embarrasses me, because it shows a lack of discipline and it's sloppy and it makes things harder than it needs to be. We end up making a drive on offense harder.

"Everything for us, on offense and on defense, just like everybody else across the country, is you want to be ahead of the sticks. If it's first-and-five because you jumped offsides on defense, you're not going to get the sacks you want. You're not going to get the tackles for loss you want, because they're ahead of the sticks, and now they can run the ball, go quick game, go naked and things like that. So I'm going to keep my poise, but I’m going to keep people accountable. I'm going to hold the staff accountable to it. We're going to get it fixed."

Next up for Penn State is Illinois, which has commited fewer penalties (21) in four games than Penn State has committed in three (22).

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Penn State on SI 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 X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.