Does anyone here know if Ford was instructed not to score? From his reaction after he crossed the goal line I would say that he knew he made a mistake. Does CJF throw his players under the bus? The answer is "no".
We don’t know. The chickensh*t press was afraid to come out and ask the question. They barely even tap danced around it. Why is everyone afraid to hold this guy to account? Franklin wants to be viewed as the CEO, right? Well, CEOs get fired when they under perform. Look at the results:
2016 - A great year. Beat two teams ranked higher than us: OSU and Wisconsin. These are the only times we have beaten an opponent ranked higher than PSU in the Top 25 under Franklin.
2017 - Losses to 2 teams ranked lower than PSU: OSU and MSU.
2018 - Losses to 2 teams ranked lower than PSU: MSU and Kentucky in the Bowl Game. Also, a near loss to opening opponent, App State.
2019 - Loss to lower-ranked Minnesota.
2020 - Loss to unranked Indiana.
I firmly believe that Franklin was the guy to take us from bad to good, and good to great, but he is not going to get this team to elite. The on-field results show a lack of preparedness and discipline. There has been some very questionable assistant hires made, which directly contribute to the lack of WR talent on scholarship and committed for 2021.
All I want out of Franklin is a little humility. Stop acting like you’re beyond reproach. I don’t expect him to beat OSU every year, but I do expect not to look like a dumpster fire against an unranked, perennial also-ran Big 10 team.
Anyone who wants to fire off the “But Indiana is good this year!” retort simply possesses a loser’s mindset. Anyone who wants to talk about game stats and how much of a fluke loss this was is sticking their head in the sand and not understanding the larger problem. You know, Purdue usually puts up big stats yet loses games to teams they shouldn’t. Are we happy being Purdue?
These are the teams you dominate when you have the talent and resources Penn State has. No excuses. Stop making them for Franklin.