Joel Klatt clarifies dig directed at James Franklin on Big Noon

Penn State football fans have reached a high level of excitement at this point of the season. The Nittany Lions are undefeated and coming off of its largest shutout as a member of the Big Ten Conference. This Saturday, Penn State travels to Columbus to take on the vaunted Ohio State Buckeyes on FOX Big Noon. However, last Saturday afternoon, the Big Noon announcing crew made some misinformed comments regarding Penn State football coach James Franklin. Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt seemingly did not get the full context from Franklin’s scheduling discussion at last Tuesday’s press conference. Instead, they used Franklin’s comments to slam him on national television during the Michigan vs. Indiana game this past weekend. However, Klatt decided to clear the air during this morning’s edition of The Joel Klatt Show podcast.

Joel Klatt clarifies dig directed at James Franklin on Big Noon

It’s no surprise that Penn State fans were less than pleased with Johnson and Klatt’s comments on Saturday. The crew misunderstood Franklin regarding his mention of a Big Ten school buying out of non-conference game contracts.

Many felt that his comments were a shot directed at the University of Michigan. This sparked national media attention. Most outlets used the same misguided angle to seemingly bash Franklin and rile up Michigan fans. Franklin later cleared up the meaning of his comments, reiterating that he was complimenting Michigan’s scheduling rather than bashing it.

During FOX’s broadcast of Indiana at Michigan on Saturday, Gus Johnson iterated that Franklin said “Michigan ain’t playing nobody.” Klatt then responded, “That’s rich coming from a guy that’s playing UMass today.”

Klatt acknowledged his misguided blunder on the latest Joel Klatt Show podcast episode. Keeping it short, Klatt simply said “I just don’t like the way that I handled it,” and “What I said wasn’t my best.” Although Klatt still failed to acknowledge the true meaning behind Franklin’s comments, it’s good to see him clear the air.

Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt to call Penn State at Ohio State

Now that Klatt has cleared things up, we can all look forward to the gargantuan matchup this Saturday. Penn State will travel in a few days to take on the undefeated, third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

This is arguably the biggest game of the 2023 college football season thus far. Both ESPN College GameDay and FOX Big Noon Kickoff will be live from Columbus. Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt will be the announcing crew for the game, which kicks off at Noon ET on FOX.

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