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Shortly after Penn State came up short in the final game of the regular season, a 30-27 setback at Michigan State, head coach James Franklin was relatively short in his responses to questions from the media. Answering questions with the media is always more tolerable for any head coach after a win, but this particular loss led to some hard questions for Franklin to address and he wasn’t exactly in the mood to do so.
Despite playing a Michigan State team that entered the week ranked 130th out of 130 in FBS against the pass, Franklin defended Penn State’s desire to try running the football as much as it did in the snowy elements in East Lansing.
“It’s important,” Franklin said when asked about the importance of not having a single 100-yard rusher this season (via Lions 247). “I want to be able to run the ball.”
Penn State had three Doak Walker Award watch list players prior to the start of the season; Noah Cain, Keyvone Lee, and John Lovett. None of those three players, or any other player for that matter, managed to rush for 100 yards in a single game all season long. Of course, Franklin is adamant there is still a chance for that to happen.
“The year is not over,” Franklin tensely said when asked about not having a 100-yard rusher this season.
At what point did Penn State decide the best way to beat Michigan State was to put the ball into the hands of Keyvone Lee and not attack the nation’s 130th-ranked pass defense with Jahan Dotson and Parker Washington?
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) November 27, 2021
Lee carried the football 15 times for a total of 79 yards, 33 of which came on one play. Cain had one rushing attempt for no yardage and Devyn Ford carried the football twice for seven yards. Sean Clifford was unable to contribute to the ground game as well. As a team, Penn State rushed for 61 yards when taking into account sacks of Clifford by the Spartans defense.
Perhaps the weather played a factor in deciding to try gutting out yards on the ground, but that was never an area where Penn State should have felt comfortable establishing itself after the way the previous 11 games of the season had gone. Penn State’s dedication to the run led to a 4th-and-1 stuff by Michigan State on a day when the best play was to trust Sean Clifford getting the ball into the hands of Jahan Dotson. And Penn State’s decision to run three straight plays down three points midway through the fourth quarter came back to haunt them as well when Lee fumbled the football. Michigan State would go on to score a touchdown, on 4th-and-15 from the 20-yard line, to extend the lead to 30-20.
Penn State’s struggles on the ground were frustrating to see on a weekly basis this season. The offensive line could not create running space and the potential of a three-headed monster on the ground never matched the hype it had going into the season.
But, as Franklin says, the season is not over yet. There will be one more game to try and figure things out on the ground with a bowl game to look forward to. But figuring out the running game should be among the top items on the offseason to-do list for Franklin and his staff.
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