When backed by one of college football’s liveliest crowds, you take it to overtime and live with the results, according to Penn State’s James Franklin. Franklin never considered trying a two-point conversion with 30 seconds remaining following Drew Allar’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Devonte Ross.
“We were going to have a tremendous environment and a really good opportunity,” Franklin said after a 30-24 double overtime loss. “Obviously, we went down and scored. Felt like we were in a really good position for our defense to get a stop. They made some significant plays. But no, we felt like going to overtime at home with the crowd advantage that we were going to have, would give us the best situation.”
After the game-tying extra point, the Nittany Lions entered overtime with all of the momentum and pushed ahead by seven points in three plays before Oregon forced a second overtime.
After scoring on the first play thanks to Dante Moore’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Gary Bryant Jr., the Ducks led 30-24 after failing on a mandatory two-point conversion try. On Penn State’s first snap of the second overtime, Allar never saw Dillon Thieneman drifting into coverage and lofted a ball in his direction. Thieneman picked it off to win the game.
It was Penn State’s only turnover of the contest. Faced with questions concerning his lackluster record against elite competition after the setback, Franklin accepted responsibility before touching on offensive struggles.
“I kind of look at the entire picture. I get that narrative, and it’s really not narrative, it’s factual,” Franklin said. “It’s the facts. I get it, but I try to look at the entire picture and what we’ve been able to do here. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to find a way to win those games. I totally get it, and I take ownership, and I take responsibility.
“I wanted that for those kids in that locker room. How hard they work, how much they sacrifice. And we had our opportunities. We had our opportunities, but yeah, I take responsibility.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, Penn State amassed just over 100 yards of total offense before Allar’s two scoring drives tied the game. The Nittany Lions finished with 276 total yards and converted all three fourth-down tries.
The late charge from Penn State wasn’t enough, however.
“I don’t think we were executing the way we’re capable of executing,” Franklin said. “Obviously, we’ve got to do whatever we’ve got to do to manufacture yards. We’ve got to make some plays. It’s all of it. Those things come at a premium when you’re playing really good teams. The margin of error is small.”
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