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Penn State may not have played a great game against Ohio State but the Nittany Lions had multiple opportunities deep in the Ohio State end of the field to change the outcome. Instead, Penn State squandered two opportunities for touchdowns at the end of the first half and toward the end of the fourth quarter as Ohio State celebrated a 20-13 victory over the Nittany Lions. Those were moments fresh on Penn State head coach James Franklin’s mind after the loss, and the fourth-quarter series with 1st and Goal was one of the hot-button issues in the postgame press conference.
“Yeah, we gave the ball to the running back, I think three times, threw the ball on the last one,” Franklin said in his postgame press conference when asked if there was a thought to try getting the ball to tight end Tyler Warren, who has a solid track record in those goal-line situations. “Should we probably have given the ball to Tyler Warren after the plays he made? Yeah, I get the question. I get it.”
Franklin was also asked about the decision to go for the touchdown on fourth down from the one-yard line. It was a pretty well-received decision to go for the touchdown and the potential tie, even if it didn’t work out in the end, but Franklin suggested the thinking was Ohio State being pinned against the goal line if the offense didn’t score was still a good situation to be in, all things considered.
“Yeah, not only that, you could get a safety and get the ball back, which puts you in position to win the game,” Franklin explained. “Get a two-point safety and the ball back with three timeouts.”
Unfortunately, Ohio State used the power running game to wear down the Penn State defense and never let Penn State get the ball back in the final five minutes.
“They had a championship drive right there at the end,” Franklin said. “We did not play well in an obvious running situation.”
Franklin and Penn State will be back at home next week for a game against new Big Ten member Washington. Penn State still has a lot to play for with the College Football playoff still within reach in the final stretch of the regular season.
Story originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire