News & Notes: Recapping Penn State's win over Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Penn State head coach James Franklin chose his words carefully.

His Nittany Lions, fresh off a 28-7 win against Michigan State Saturday afternoon, had improved to 8-0 on the season. They showed poise and maturity and played complementary football to build a 21-0 lead at the half, executing throughout, in spite of rainy weather that was quickly going from bad to worse.

And yet through a second half that included uncharacteristic unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, decision-making, and generally sloppy play to match the conditions outside, all of it left Franklin in a heightened state following the game.

“It was an emotional game. I'm not going to get into the details with you guys, during the whole game. I'm not gonna make excuses. We're going to own it all. That's not who we are and that's not who we will be,” Franklin said. “And it was addressed today, and it will be addressed on Sunday, after you watch the tape and our team meeting.”

One of the least penalized teams in college football this season, entering the tilt with the Spartans at No. 14 nationally with 33 total penalties on the year, the Nittany Lions were hit nine times for 104 yards in penalties.

Making matters worse, beyond the one offensive hold, a special teams running into the kicker that called back a K.J. Hamler punt return for a touchdown, and four defensive penalties that included a hold, pass interference, offsides and illegal block, the Nittany Lions also were tagged three times with unsportsmanlike conduct calls. The second, charged against defensive lineman Antonio Shelton, was for spitting on his opponent and earned him an ejection from the game, for which he later apologized on Twitter.

In a sentiment that was echoed by his players following the game, Franklin acknowledged the game’s emotional state, but also insisted that the uncharacteristic penalties will be corrected.

“The worst thing you can do, and I've made this mistake earlier in my career is, you go in the locker room and you're upset after a tough win or after a tough loss and you don't handle things well,” Franklin said. “It was addressed, very clear, very direct, and we'll do it again on Sunday. But that's not who we are. And I think that people that have covered us for six years, I can be criticized for a lot of things, I don't think that's one. We played a disciplined style football around here. I take a lot of pride in the 700,000 fans and alumni fans that we represent.”

And beyond even the penalties, that Penn State had an uncharacteristic turnover in the form of Sean Clifford’s second half interception, also gave Franklin pause.

“There's things that pop up that as a coach, I struggle with. I take so much pride in not just the wins, but more importantly, in how we win and how we operate and how we manage things. We've done a great job of protecting the football. The interception that we had is not how we do things. That's not how we operate,” Franklin said. “So that one bothered me. Probably more so because I have such high expectations with him at how well he's played this year in terms of managing the football, that rolling out to the right, throwing back to the left, across the field, wet game, that's not who we are. That's not good football.”

What other news and notes items emerged following the Nittany Lions’ win?

Let’s go through some of them here:

1) Franklin said he didn’t know what the game looked like on television, but the weather Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium was every bit as sloppy as was reflected in the dropped passes and other wet play.

“It was a sloppy game. It rained the entire game. I don't know how it looked on TV, but it was it was a sloppy game,” Franklin said. “And we were able to score enough early on in the first half before things got too messy, to be able to be able to get a win. So I'm pleased with that.”

Tight end Pat Freiermuth credited his own success, which included two first half touchdown receptions and a third early in the third quarter, by the fact that the heavy stuff hadn’t started to come down until after he’d made his mark on the game. And in fact, he rightly acknowledged that it sent the “passing game completely out of whack,” which was reflected in Clifford’s 6-of-15 passing performance after the half.

One group that didn’t mind the wet conditions, however, played along the offensive line on Saturday afternoon. Will Fries described the conditions in glowing terms likely unfamiliar to anyone else who sat through the day’s proceedings.

“Yeah, I mean it's one of those things that as a kid you grow up dreaming of playing games like that,” Fries said. “Yeah, it's cold and rainy, but as an offensive lineman, it's just a ton of fun. Get a little muddy. Just playing in those conditions and running the ball is very fun.”

2) This was the stretch of games that Franklin knew would be circled by the majority of the fan base heading into the season and, he hoped, wouldn’t be bought into by his program.

At Iowa, Michigan for a White Out, and back at Michigan State on the road before a bye weekend.

Clearing those specific hurdles with an unblemished record and, more important, advancing to 8-0 on the season as a result, the Nittany Lions are not using the break as an opportunity to take a deep breath.

Just the opposite, in fact, defensive end Shaka Toney said following his four-tackle day.

“You can't take no breaths. How many teams got upset this weekend? No breaths,” Toney said. “Next week we gotta prepare and take our bye week seriously. We got recover. A lot of people chill on the bye week. We're not going to chill on the bye week. We're going to go out there, practice hard, recover and get in the film room. The bye week is a great time to improve. And that's something that, especially in our room, we're going to emphasize. I think Minnesota is still undefeated. As you can see, this is Big Ten football and nobody is going to give you any games.”

All the same, he added, they can still be pleased to have come away with wins against teams that might be even better than fans realize.

“This is Big Ten football, and those are three grown men teams that I'm pretty sure could beat anybody at any given time. Iowa, Michigan, and Michigan State. Those are grown man football games. All of those are great opponents. Even today, I know what the score said but they made plays. It just felt good to go out there and do our thing.”

3) Penn State welcomed the return of Trent Gordon to the cornerback rotation Saturday after missing the Michigan game, but the position was far from in the clear for the day.

Already losing Noah Cain apparently to injury (though it wasn’t specified by Franklin or team personnel afterward, he alluded to it in passing), Penn State also saw early exits from the game for both John Reid and Gordon. The two absences prompted Penn State to play more of true freshmen Keaton Ellis and Marquis Wilson, the second of whom grabbed his first career interception.

“Coach (Terry Smith) is not scared to play a freshman,” Tariq Castro-Fields said. “So as you could see, I played early, Christian Campbell, Grant Haley, you name it. It kind of helps. They played great. When their time was called, they delivered So I'm super proud.”

In another potential step taken for the program in its development of improved depth, Franklin offered some hopeful news that the injuries sustained Saturday won’t be long-term situations.

“I think the depth stuff was huge for us. You look around college football, the best programs are able to put a first-team in, a second-team in, and a third-team in and there's not really a lot of drop-off,” Franklin said. “We had a bunch of injuries that I don't think are going to go into the game after the bye week. I don't see that. I hope not. Knock on wood. But the fact that we're able to put Trent Gordon in and he plays well, and then he has to come out. And then Marquis goes in and he plays well and gets an interception. You got to do that.”