Late in the first half of Penn State’s Week 11 victory over Maryland, head coach [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to cost his offense 15 yards of field position. After the drive eventually ended with a field goal by [autotag]Jake Pinegar[/autotag], cameras caught a glimpse of Franklin dropping to the sideline to do a series of push-ups.
It was assumed Franklin was dealing a bit of self-punishment to hold himself accountable for costing his team 15 yards of field position, and he confirmed as much in his postgame press conference following Penn State’s 30-0 victory.
“I did 15 push-ups because everybody is held accountable around here,” Franklin said when asked to confirm how many push-ups he did. A look at the video replay confirms he did indeed complete 15 push-ups.
“I had my first unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in 12 years as a head coach. I was embarrassed by it,” Franklin went on to explain. “I did my push-ups, and everybody is held accountable.”
Asked why he was flgged for the unsportsmanlike conduct, Franklin suggested there was a bit of confusion on the part of the Big Ten refs working the game.
“I think they thought I was yelling at the officials, and I wasn’t, I was yelling at our players, but either way I got an unsportsmanlike conduct, my first one in 12 years,” Franklin explained.
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