James Franklin on booing Penn State fans: ‘I understand their frustration’

For yet another year, Penn State football has fallen at the hands of Ohio State. While Saturday’s 20-13 loss doesn’t eliminate the previously undefeated Nittany Lions from the College Football Playoff hunt, it may reopen questions we believed had been resolved regarding James Franklin’s revamped offense in 2024.

Penn State came into the top-five matchup second in the country in explosive play percentage on offense. But the Buckeyes won the day with big plays, totaling 216 yards on 13 explosive plays (passes of 15+, rushes of 10+) with two scores. Conversely, the Nittany Lions mustered seven chunk plays for 153 yards with no scores.

The Penn State offense didn’t find the end zone on Saturday, settling for two field goals and turning the ball over twice on the goal line.

Franklin to angry Penn State football fans: “I understand the frustration”

Much like last season’s home loss to Michigan, where the Nittany Lions only scored 15 points, the postgame reaction was much the same.

Those agitated fans who remained in Beaver Stadium greeted James Franklin with boos, calls for his firing, and objects from the grandstand as he exited the field. The Penn State football coach even confronted one onlooker as he made his way into the team’s tunnel.

WATCH: Moment when James Franklin confronts fan in stands following Penn State’s loss to Ohio State #WeArePennState pic.twitter.com/WOMXq7aLd6

— Basic Blues Nation (@BasicBlues) November 2, 2024

In his postgame press conference, Franklin spoke directly to those disconcerted fans among the Nittany Lions faithful.

“I understand their frustration,” said Franklin, now 1-7 against top-five teams. “Guys in the locker room are just as frustrated, if not more. But college football has changed, and we have an opportunity moving forward to right some wrongs from today, and that’s what we’re going to focus on.

“I get it. We get an unbelievable crowd here. We get unbelievable support. You don’t do that without passion. And there’s great things that come from that, and there’s hard things that come from that. That’s part of the job, and I own it all.”

Watch James Franklin’s entire postgame press conference:

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