James Franklin explains why he did push-ups on the sideline
Late in the first half of Penn State’s Week 11 victory over Maryland, head coach James Franklin 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 Jake Pinegar, 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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