Penn State Football: Franklin, Clifford Talk Unsportsmanlike Conduct Penalty

Late in the first half of Penn State’s 30-0 shutout victory over Maryland coach James Franklin was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by the officials. The call backed Penn State up 15 yards and give the Nittany Lions a long 2nd-and-25 which effectively killed a promising scoring drive. A 50-yard field goal by Jake Pinegar would save the day in part, giving the Nittany Lions three more points to extend a 21-0 lead to 24-0.

However, the question still remained. What exactly happened? The television broadcast never showed anything until moments after the field goal as Franklin got down on the ground and did 15 push-ups. A standard punishment in Penn State’s practices for various missteps.

“I did 15 push-ups because everybody is held accountable around here,” Franklin said after the game. “I had my first unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in 12 years as a head coach. I was embarrassed by it. I did my push-ups, and everybody is held accountable. 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.”

Asked about the situation after the game and if he saw Franklin doing push-ups, Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford just laughed. “No, I didn’t. I saw him yelling at me though,” Clifford said with a smile. “I was the cause of that.”

Penn State entered Saturday’s game having been called for 50 penalties this year, No. 36 in the nation. Navy leads the way this season having been called for just 30 penalties this year while Minnesota and Michigan lead the Big Ten with 37 and 40 penalties respectively. Iowa, Ohio State and Indiana all are just ahead of Penn State in penalties against. Cincinnati is dead last in the nation with 84 penalties through 10 games.