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Penn State's James Franklin Questions Overturned Fumble Vs. Oregon

The Ducks' red-zone fumble was overturned by the replay official. Oregon scored on the next play en route to a win over the Nittany Lions.
Mark Wogenrich|
Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin reacts during the fourth quarter against the Oregon Ducks at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin reacts during the fourth quarter against the Oregon Ducks at Beaver Stadium. | James Lang-Imagn Images

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Upon further review, Penn State coach James Franklin thought it was a fumble.

Midway through the third quarter of the Penn State-Oregon game, Nittany Lions defensive Chaz Coleman forced a red-zone fumble against Ducks running back Noah Whittington. Penn State safety Zakee Wheatley recovered and returned the ball to midfield, momentarily giving the Nittany Lions a momentum surge in a 3-3 tie.

However, officials went to the booth for a review, and the replay official overturned the call on the field of a fumble. Oregon scored a touchdown on the next play to take a 10-3 lead. The Ducks went on to win 30-24 in double-overtime.

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Franklin discussed the play, both Saturday night and Monday at his weekly press conference. Immediately following the game, Franklin said that "nothing was explained on the sideline. They said that the runner's knee was down basically before he broke the tackle and kept running when the ball came out."

About 36 hours later at his game-week press conference, Franklin addressed the fumble unprompted during his opening statement.

"We had an opportunity early in the game for a turnover we didn't make [and] had a turnover late in the game that got overturned," Franklin said. "You know to me, from what I saw, because I got this question afterwards, I didn't see enough to overturn the call on the field. Again, I wanted to just follow up because you guys did ask me that question after the game."

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More takeaways from Franklin's weekly press conference:

  • Penn State did not record a sack against Oregon, which Franklin suggested was an officiating issue. Oregon entered the game having allowed one sack in its first four games, and the offensive line stood up well to the Nittany Lions' pass rush. But Franklin thought the Ducks held another advantage. "We didn't get any sacks," he said. "I also thought there was a significant amount of calls that weren't made that could have impacted that as well."
  • Regarding the game-ending interception, Franklin said that quarterback Drew Allar should have checked off the tight end or thrown the ball away instead of trying to float a pass to Luke Reynolds. Penn State ran the play often, and successfully, last year with Tyler Warren. This time, Oregon's Dillon Thieneman picked off Allar. "I think we continue to do a good job in terms of Drew when it comes to decision-making," Franklin said. "Obviously that last throw, that's a challenging route that people have a difficult time covering. But that was covered."
  • For the third time in four games, Penn State fell below its explosive-play goal of 15 percent. In particular, Penn State's running backs generated just one explosive rush; Kaytron Allen for 19 yards. Allar made the team's longest run (20 yards).
  • Looking for more Kaytron Allen? It could be coming. Franklin said that the senior back ranks among the team's offensive highlights, though he continues to share carries with Singleton. Allen ranks sixth in the Big Ten in yards per carry (7.11), nearly double that of Singleton (3.85). He also has the team's only two carries of 20+ yards by a running back. "Kaytron Allen has had a really good early part of the season, and we've got to build on that," Franklin said.
  • Asked about how he spent the 36 hours following the game, Franklin sought to reframe the narrative positively. "I'm not going to allow one loss to define our season and I'm not going to allow a few losses to define my career and what we have done here at Penn State," Franklin said. "Because, although I don't think a lot of people spend a ton of time on what we have done over our 12 years here, I get it. Nobody wants to hear this right now. There is a ton of positives."

Up next

Penn State goes on the road for the first time this season, visiting winless UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

Kickoff time announced

Penn State will host Northwestern Oct. 11 at Beaver Stadium for its homecoming game. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

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Mark Wogenrich
MARK WOGENRICH

Mark Wogenrich is the editor and publisher of Penn State on SI, the site for Nittany Lions sports on the Sports Illustrated network. He has covered Penn State sports for more than two decades across three coaching staffs, three Rose Bowls and one College Football Playoff appearance.

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