Penn State Football: A Lot of Real Things Went Into Nittany Lions’ Loss, but Perceptions Will Deal Franklin a Bigger Defeat

It was a no good, very bad day for James Franklin this past Saturday as the Nittany Lions fell in nine overtimes to Illinois for one of the ugliest defeats in program history and maybe the worst of the Franklin era.

There is a lot to unpack following a game like this but it’s also difficult for a layman to really drill down on the exact details of what actually went wrong. Or rather, what they would have done to fix it. 

Stating the offensive line ought to block better in the run game or that Sean Clifford should have thrown the ball more accurately is true, but both are also broad platitudes. It’s sort of like watching a basketball team struggle to make free throws.

“They should practice those,” some fan remarks.

Do you think the team isn’t aware of its own weakness? Do you think they’re failing to actually work on it?

It’s in this where Franklin took his biggest loss on Saturday: the fact he can’t really control the narrative of a defeat that looked so ugly and felt so unnecessary. Whatever the truth might be, the perception will win the day.

Because in the end it absolutely made a difference Sean Clifford wasn’t healthy. It absolutely mattered that he couldn’t throw the ball without wincing in pain. It absolutely mattered he couldn’t run, netting negative rushing yards for just the second time in his career as a starter.

That itself may have been the entire game in a nutshell. Penn State’s defense gave up 10 points in regulation – who cares about yards – and forced three turnovers. Penn State’s offense managed three points off of those turnovers. Give the Nittany Lions a healthy Clifford and that number is almost certainly different.

It absolutely mattered that Penn State’s offense isn’t geared toward running the ball. It absolutely mattered that wasn’t going to change in two weeks.

It absolutely mattered that Penn State had likely hoped it wouldn’t need to go to a backup quarterback in a post-Will Levis world because none of the remaining options were close to ready enough and never would be in time.

In and of themselves, these are all football things. Sean Clifford being hurt isn’t a strategic error it simply is what it is. Ta’Quan Roberson is who he is. That doesn’t make his development unimportant, but when first team snaps in a new offense are a resource, they’ve always been better served going to Clifford.

It also doesn’t absolve Franklin and his staff of their duties. Losing and simply saying “well that happens” is perhaps true from time to time, but rarely are coaches given the benefit of circumstance excusing results.

But none of this really matters. Some that might be true, but it won’t win the day.

What will win the day is the perception. And the perception is that despite three years in the program Ta’Quan Roberson wasn’t ready to play — and he should have been.

The perception is Penn State’s defense may have only given up 10 points, but it could have played better.

The perception is Penn State should have been able to run the ball, but it can’t.

The perception is James Franklin and Mike Yurcich should have come up with a plan to beat Illinois centered on the idea Clifford was healthy enough to play but still too hurt to fully function. They didn’t.

The perception is Franklin might have plenty of program-building strengths, but faced with a tall order on the field, he isn’t the guy to MacGyver you through it.

The perception is that maybe an 0-5 start in 2020 and two-straight loss in 2021 are a sign that things have hit their ceiling. The perception is maybe Franklin can’t get Penn State over the hump.

The perception is that the annual USC talk is a plant, and Franklin is as much to blame for it as anyone else. The perception is maybe he is growing tired of growing old in State College.

That’s the perception. And some of that perception is reality. But some of it isn’t.

The problem for Franklin now is winning back the benefit of the doubt, a loss that will take him far longer to recover from than Saturday’s.