Penn State Has Made the Same Mistake Twice in 2 Years. James Franklin Is Frustrated

The Nittany Lions coach broke down a special teams breakdown vs. FIU. It also happened in 2024 at Minnesota.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin looks on from the sideline during the third quarter against the FIU Panthers at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State is 2-0 this season, ranked second in the country and has outscored its non-conference opponents by a combined score of 80-11. For the most part, Penn State coach James Franklin has positive vibes about his Nittany Lions as they head into the final tuneup before the Big Ten season begins. However, Franklin is not without a few frustrations.

In the opener vs. Nevada, it was a late delay-of-game penalty that Franklin didn't think was his team's fault. Generally, the head coach wants to see more explosive plays from his offense and quicker play from his defense. And he'd like two offensive starters to play without overthinking. But one play in Week 2 really tapped his frustration meter.

The Nittany Lions gave up a blocked field goal late in the second quarter against FIU, sending them to halftime with an unsatisfying 10-0 lead. Penn State drove into FIU territory on all six first-half drives but scored just one touchdown. Quarterback Drew Allar got Penn State into a long-range field-goal attempt just before the half expired, giving Ryan Barker a shot at a career-long 53-yard kick.

But FIU's Jessiah McGrew jumped through an unblocked gap in Penn State's front to block the attempt, sending Franklin into halftime with flashbacks. He saw the same special teams breakdown on a blocked extra point last year at Minnesota in a game that was far closer and more impactful. It's the kind of self-inflicted error Franklin wants to excise from the program.

"The blocked kick was frustrating," he said. Watch it here, beginning at the 4:30 mark, courtesy of Big Ten Network.

What happened on the blocked field goal?

Penn State Nittany Lions kicker Ryan Barker (94) kicks a field goal during the third quarter against the FIU Panthers at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State coaches its special teams linemen on a very specific protection plan which they internalize through constant repetition. However, Franklin said that the 53-yard attempt didn't go to that plan. Here's how Franklin broke down the block.

"Literally for I don't know how many years now, the way we teach it is, you are responsible for your inside gap, and then you basically use an arm bar in your outside gap to help the next offensive player, and everybody does that," Franklin said. "You're responsible for your inside gap, help outside. Inside gap, help outside. We've had two years now in a row where guys have done that maybe 20 times in a row in games, let alone training camp.

"And then all of a sudden, a guy gets the idea that they're going to do something they've never been coached. Never asked a question on why they should do that. Never done it in practice one time. But we've had two times now, two years in a row, where a guy takes two hands, puts them on the inside gap, doesn't help on the outside gap, and we get split and get a field goal block. So that's extremely frustrating as a coach. We got to get that cleaned up.

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Remember the 2024 Minnesota game

In 2024, Minnesota blocked an extra point rather than a field goal, which actually was worse. Late in the second quarter, quarterback Drew Allar led a professional six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in just 44 seconds, which he capped with a 4-yard scoring run. Penn State should have evened the game at 17-17 entering the half. Then Minnesota not only blocked the extra-point attempt but also returned it for two points, taking a 19-16 lead and a jolt of momentum to the break.

Penn State recovered from that quick turn of events for a 26-25 win that hinged on another special-teams play — Luke Reynolds' huge gain on a fourth-quarter fake punt. Franklin has said multiple times this season that special teams can help the Nittany Lions win games. Which is why he brought up the field-goal breakdown vs. FIU twice without being asked about it.

"We've had two blocked field goals in two years where a guy does completely opposite of what we coach: field-goal responsibility," Franklin said after the FIU game. "Then suddenly, I'm going to take two hands down on my inside gap and give out my outside gap, which is not what we coach and what we do. In the last two years, we've had a guy do that on their own without ever doing it in practice, without ever being coached. We need to clean up a couple of things, like the two kicks that went out of bounds. Those things are disappointing, but we've made some big-time plays on special teams, and we need to continue doing that."

Penn State hosts Villanova on Saturday at Beaver Stadium to close its non-conference schedule. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin during the second quarter against the FIU Panthers at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images