How a Mistaken Penn State Touchdown Became a Pastor's Sermon
Penn State coach James Franklin didn't want to chat with a member of the Indiana sideline chain crew last Saturday. His body language was meant to deliver a "back off" vibe.
However, the crew member kept talking, telling Franklin that he also is a church pastor. "So now I have to listen, right?" Franklin said. What he heard was a reminder that negative moments can do good later.
This is how a mistaken Penn State touchdown two years ago became part of a pastor's sermon.
Remember the 2020 season-opening Penn State-Indiana game, which the Hoosiers 36-35 won in overtime? The game probably would not have reached overtime had Penn State not scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Former running back Devyn Ford, who left the team earlier this season, scored with 1:42 remaining to give the Lions a 28-20 lead. Yet on the sideline, Franklin and his coaches screamed, "Don't score!"
What happened next? Indiana drove for the tying score and 2-point conversion, then won on quarterback Michael Penix Jr.'s controversial 2-point conversion in overtime.
Had Ford voluntarily gone down before reaching the end zone, Penn State likely would have run out the clock for the win. From there, who knows how the Lions' ultimately 4-5 season might have gone?
Former Penn State running back Devyn Ford scored a touchdown late in the team's 2020 game against Indiana. The Hoosiers rallied after that to score two touchdowns and a pair of 2-point conversions in regulation and overtime for a 36-35 win.
Marc Lebryk/USA Today Sports
That moment evidently stayed with the member of Indiana's sideline chain gang, who happened to be a church pastor. And the pastor wanted to discuss it with Franklin during last week's game in Bloomington.
Here's how Franklin told the story.
"The chain-gang guy was talking to me, and typically you guys don't get to know those personalities," Franklin said. "They're pretty much the same guys, just like here at Penn State, we've got guys who have probably been doing it for 30 years. And this guy is trying to talk to me, and he's saying, 'You know what's funny?' And I'm kind of giving him that body language and demeanor like I don't really want to get into a conversation with you during the game. But he doesn't read my body language and he says it again: 'You know what's really funny?'
"I kind of turned, and he goes, 'You know, I'm a pastor of a church.' So now I have to listen, right? He goes, 'I'm a pastor at a church, and two years ago you were here and you were talking on the sideline about don't score, don't score, don't score, and I've never heard a coach in 30 years talk about not scoring.
"Then you go on the field and you're screaming, 'Don't score, don't score, don't score,' and then you scored, and obviously you know how it plays out. But I've used that in my sermon I don't know how many times.' And I'm like, I still don't really understand what he's talking about."
That's when the pastor got to his lesson.
"What he says is, what may look good in this moment may not be the right thing for you down the road. So finally the message kind of comes. But it was just an interesting interaction after all these years.
"... It was an interesting interaction that I had with this gentleman on the sideline talking about a situation that I really didn't want to talk about or remember. But he did bring it up and had a message about how he's used it in his church."
Check out the video above to watch Franklin tell the story.
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