Penn State’s James Franklin has no regrets about late TD in rout of West Virginia

When backup quarterback Beau Pribula scored on a 5-yard run with six seconds left in Penn State’s 38-15 win over West Virginia on Saturday, Mountaineers coach Neal Brown took exception to James Franklin’s decision not to end the game with a kneel-down.

”I wouldn’t have done it, but it doesn’t bother me,” Brown said after the loss. “Stuff like that comes back around.”

Franklin had a chance to respond at his news conference on Tuesday. “I believe that from the opening kick to the last whistle, you compete, and you play. If you leave your ones in, that’s a different story. Then you should change how you play,” the Nittany Lions coach said. “But when your twos go into the game, those guys get a limited amount of reps. They should have a chance to compete.”

The touchdown came one series after the Mountaineers scored with their first team against Penn State’s backups. Brown also called a trick play for a two-point conversion attempt and used his timeouts as the game clock wound down.

Penn State remained at No. 7 in the Associated Press poll and began preparations to host FCS opponent Delaware this Saturday at noon.

Franklin listed special teams as one of Penn State’s top areas that need improvement. The Lions lost their starting kicker, punter, punt returner, and long snapper from last season and had competitions at those spots throughout training camp.

The group was a noticeable weakness in the season opener. Kicker Sander Sahaydak missed field-goal attempts of 34 and 38 yards. He was replaced by Alex Felkins, a transfer from Columbia, who converted his only attempt from 25 yards.

Franklin said Tuesday that Sahaydak stepped in front of the team, unprompted, after practice Sunday and spoke about his missed kicks.

“He said, ‘Coach, I’ve got something to say.’ He got up and just handled himself really well. I was really proud of him,” Franklin said. “As a young man, like if it was my son, very proud of him. As a member of this team, as a teammate, I just thought he conducted himself really well.”

» READ MORE: No. 7 Penn State routs West Virginia, 38-15, in season opener

Punter Riley Thompson, a transfer from Florida Atlantic, shanked a 29-yarder on the first of only two attempts. He won the competition over redshirt freshman Alex Bacchetta and redshirt sophomore Gabriel Nwosu, who handled kickoff duties well.

Franklin was impressed with first-time punt returner Kaden Saunders, a wide receiver. The redshirt freshman made an ill-advised fair catch on his own 6-yard line but handled other punts cleanly and confidently.

Penn State ruled out three regular contributors on Saturday with injuries. Defensive end Amin Vanover, defensive tackle Coziah Izzard, and cornerback Daequan Hardy did not dress against West Virginia, while wide receiver Omari Evans went through warmups but did not play.

Franklin did not update the injury status of any player but said that none of them will be out for the season.

The NCAA introduced rules this season that allow the game clock to continue to run after first downs outside of the final two minutes of each half. A number of coaches across college football have been openly critical of the rule change.

Franklin addressed it Tuesday, saying that his staff estimated that Penn State and West Virginia lost about five plays each compared to last year’s average. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but Franklin said he did not love the faster pace.

“I think for the average football fan or person, you probably don’t notice it a whole lot,” Franklin said. “For us, it did feel, I know this sounds crazy, but it did feel dramatically shorter, especially seeing the first half seem to fly by.”