Why Penn State's James Franklin Was Hot After the Nittany Lions' Win Over Nevada

Why was Frankin upset? Here's how he explained it after the game:

"We did not win the penalty battle. I was not happy with the last one," Franklin said. "The official is in the huddle holding us, turns to the umpire, says 'pump the clock.' He doesn’t do it, then throws a flag on us. Then I go and address it, and same thing. [The official] is behind him going, 'I tried to tell him.' So I wasn’t happy about that."

Otherwise, Franklin left Beaver Stadium following his 102nd career win as the Nittany Lions' head coach with more good than bad on his mind. Penn State scored on all nine possessions before failing to convert a 4th-and-2 with 2:41 remaining. They forced three turnovers, scoring 16 points off them. They also held Nevada to 203 total yards, giving up only a late touchdown with its reserve defense.

James Franklin's issues with Saturday

However, a few themes stood out. First, Penn State's run game mustered just 135 yards, with Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen combining for only 62 on 16 carries. The duo scored three combined touchdowns, and Allen averaged 5.4 yards per carry on just eight touches. But the inside run game wasn't physical enough, and Franklin wanted to see more from the outside zone. That contributed to Penn State kicking field goals on three red-zone trips, two of which followed turnovers.

"Obviously we didn't execute down there, and we need to do that," said Franklin, whose team was 4-for-7 in red-zone touchdowns. "I thought our run game, especially our outside zone stuff, could have been better. We stalled out there. If you're going to critique, that's an area that deserves to be critiqued."

A crisp game from an organizational perspective

Franklin liked the way his team operated mechanically against Nevada. The team committed five penalties (four, according to Franklin), none of which was a personal foul or a "stupid" penalty. A late pass interference penalty that led to Nevada's touchdown was debatable as well.

Penn State also didn't take any unnecessary timeouts, which came into play in the first half. The Nittany Lions had three left late in the half, using two on a Nevada series to stop the clock. That gave the Nittany Lions 1:38 remaining, which quarterback Drew Allar turned into an 8-play, 64-yard touchdown drive, hittinh Kyron Hudson for a 31-yard touchdown pass.

"I loved how we saved all of our timeouts," Franklin said. "You see a ton of sloppy play early in the season. I didn't see any of that. We didn't have stupid penalties, we didn't put the ball on the ground, we didn't turn it over, we didn't burn timeouts. That was big."

As for defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, he communicated calls smoothly with linebackers Amare Campbell and Dom DeLuca. Campbell said he had no issues on the headset with Knowles.

Franklin liked the new receivers

Penn State spent a chunk of its portal money on three new receivers, two of whom led the Nittany Lions in catches Saturday. Trebor Pena (7 catches, 74 yards) and Kyron Hudson (6 catches, 89 yards) gave the offense, and Allar, a more professional look.

Hudson and Pena ran exceptional routes, caught their targets and blocked downfield. Hudson couldn't come up with an early touchdown pass that Allar threw behind him but adjusted well on the 31-yarder late in the first half. Pena ran some tight routes and generated 40 yards after catch.

"Hudson looks very mature, he looks very poised," Frankin said. "The ball behind him in the end zone, that should have been a touchdown. He looks mature and strong and confident. Obviously Pena did some good things, and we continued to get [Devonte] Ross involved as well."

'A blessing in disguise'

By coming up short in the red zone, Penn State got kicker Ryan Barker on the field four times. Barker responded, making four field goals from 28, 28, 32 and 39 yards. None of the kicks was a stress test, but every banked rep helps. Franklin called that a "blessing in disguise."

"Going 4-for-4 on field goals was huge," Franklin said.

The play Franklin called 'disgusting'

So about this. That's No. 3 quarterback Jaxon Smolik, in the game to run a gimmick two-point conversion attempt in the second half. Smolik wears No. 14, same as Penn State holder Riley Thompson. So were the Nittany Lions trying to flex some kind of number-confusion play on Nevada? And why put this on tape now?

"The only thing that was somewhat disgusting was the two-point fake," Franklin said. "That was probably the only thing in the that was disgusting."