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The Question James Franklin Couldn't Answer After Penn State's Loss to UCLA

Franklin and the Nittany Lions faced some hard truths after their 42-37 loss to the Bruins at the Rose Bowl.
Mark Wogenrich|
UCLA Bruins interim head coach Tim Skipper (black cap) hugs Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin after defeating the Penn State 42-37 at the Rose Bowl.
UCLA Bruins interim head coach Tim Skipper (black cap) hugs Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin after defeating the Penn State 42-37 at the Rose Bowl. | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

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PASADENA, California | At Big Ten Media Days in July, Penn State coach James Franklin introduced his roster by calling it the best combination of personnel, in terms of staff and players, he has had since arriving in 2014. On Saturday, after the Nittany Lions lost to previously winless UCLA 42-37, Franklin was asked whether he still believed that.

"How am I supposed to answer that when we lose the last two games?" Franklin said in a small room in the tunnels of the Rose Bowl. "That’s all that matters. We didn’t win the last two games. I obviously felt that way or I wouldn’t have said it. After two losses, it’s hard for me to answer that question and say that’s the case."

Franklin will confront that question and more this week as he brings the Nittany Lions home following their worst loss of his tenure. UCLA entered the game with the Big Ten's lowest-ranked offense in terms of points, yards, time of possession and third-down conversions. But the Bruins, with an offensive coordinator in Jerry Neuhisel they named Tuesday, took down Penn State in all four categories.

Franklin struggled to answer that question and more Saturday afternoon. Here's what else Franklin and others said after UCLA's upset of Penn State.

RELATED: The Penn State report card: UCLA edition

Penn State coach James Franklin

Opening statement: You have to give their quarterback [Nico Iamaleava[ a ton of credit. We obviously had a hard time stopping him all day long. I think the opening sequence of the game was significant. The touchdown and then the surprise onside kick we talked about all week long. We knew they were going to take significant risks in this game. They were obviously two significant things, the drive and the kickoff. From that point on, we were battling. We went in at halftime in an obviously challenging situation and came out and battled in the second half, but not enough to win the game.

We made mistakes today that we normally don’t make. We had a ton of missed assignments. We had turnovers at critical times. We had penalties at critical times. Things that we really don’t do and haven’t done for a very long time.

On Nico Iamaleava's performance: He had [128 yards rushing], and a lot of those yards came at critical points. A couple times we spied him and when we spied him, he was able to make the spy miss or run away from the spy. We lost a significant player for us last week. Normally that would be his responsibility. A couple other times they caught us in man coverage without a spy. We got out of our rush lanes and he made a ton of plays.

On whether his team was mentally ready to play: Obviously we did not handle last week’s loss well. We also lost some players in that game and during the week. And everything else, the travel, everything else. We did not come out with the right energy to start the game. Before you know it, they get a touchdown drive and an onside kick. Now you’re fighting. They gain confidence and we’re fighting for the next three quarters. That’s my responsibility. I didn’t get it done.

On the defensive effort: Especially when you talk about the first half, third down was not very good. We could not get off the field. They did a really good job of staying on schedule. In the second half we were able to get them off schedule a few times. That’s when Nico really hurt us a few times. I didn’t feel like it was an effort thing, but I do think we made a bunch of mistakes from what I saw and heard on the headsets.

On the 4th-and-2 call in the fourth quarter: It was a QB power read. We had an opportunity to get the ball on the edge, get the quarterback downhill based on the read. They brought edge pressure, which we knew was coming. They beat the block and got penetration. They had two guys at the point of attack for the ball carrier, which would have been [Trebor] Pena, but also Drew. Give them credit for the aggressive call.

On rebounding: We have to tune out all the outside noise. I thought our guys worked hard at doing that last week, but obviously not well enough. We have to stick together. The reality is we didn’t play well enough in all three phases to win the game. There’s going to be a lot out there to divide, divide. We have to tune all that out and stick together. It’s not going to be easy, but I think we’ll do that.

UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper

On offensive coordinator Jerry Neuhisel: I’m going to start with this; he’s a coach's kid. You move around the country when you are young, you’re trying to figure out all your new friends and things like that. Before he even became a coach, he has dealt with having to be ready to go at any time. It was a short week for him to get ready. He did a great job of using stuff we have been doing and adding new to it. We wanted to control the time of possession and slow things down. The plan worked to a T. That was a game of a lot of situations. There were a lot of things happening. We just kept the guys calm, and took it one play at a time. Jerry did a great job of that.

On getting his first win: College football is crazy in multiple ways. You just take whatever happens each day and you keep on striving to stay on the rise. I’m a passionate, emotional, energetic type guy, and that’s what I bring every single day. You never have a bad day unless you declare it a bad day. Every day is a good day if you want it to be good. Stay positive, figure out solutions, and you keep on rolling. Staying on the rise is a big thing to me, and that is what we have been doing.

On his team's gameplan: We wanted to control the game. That’s why we wanted to run the ball, and it all starts with the big boys up front. They have to control the line of scrimmage. They were creating openings. We know their D-line and linebackers are really really good, so we had to put bodies on those guys. We just wanted to control it one play at a time, just take it one play at a time, and that’s exactly what we did. We actually have never talked about not leading for a game, somebody told me about it that’s how I knew. We never talked about it or anything, we just went out there and played ball today. We just went out there and took the lead, and fortunately for us we kept it.

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar

On the loss: I firmly believe we have one of the best cultures in college football. I don’t think one or two games defines us. It’s going to be how we respond to this. It’s a bump in the road, for sure. With our backs to the wall, there’s no other team or coaching staff I’d rather be in this situation with.

On his team's preparedness: Yeah, I felt like the team was mentally ready.

On the 4th-and-2 call in the fourth quarter: The [UCLA] defensive end stunted out. Unfortunately, they had a really good call on it. The kid made a really nice play coming off the edge. He told me to pull it. Unfortunately, the guy just folded inside.

On what comes next: I’m going to take it day by day. I’m going to throw 100% of my heart and
effort into it and do whatever I need to do to get us right. I can promise that I will do everything in my power to pour my heart and soul into it every day and come out with a different outcome each week.

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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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