STATE COLLEGE — Penn State coach James Franklin spoke to reporters after his team’s latest loss State of Ohio. The Lions’ 11th-year leader started his press conference with an opening statement following the team’s 20-13 loss to the Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium.

“I have to give the state of Ohio credit,” Franklin said. “I did very well today. We did some things that were good enough to win, and some things that weren’t. I can’t have the ball inside the five-yard line twice and come out with no points. One turnover, which is very unusual for us, and then another turnover, actually with setbacks.

“The pick-six was a huge play in the game, but we only scored six points on offense. We scored seven points on defense against a very, very good team. Are they good on defense? Yes, but should we find ways to convert points into yards? There’s no doubt about it. So we didn’t get it done. Give them a lot of credit.”

Below you can read everything Franklin said and watch the video of his press conference.

Should Penn State have involved Tyler Warren on the goal-to-go drive in the fourth quarter?

“Yeah, we gave the ball to the running back, I think three times, threw the ball on the last one, yeah, shall we do that? We probably should have given the ball to Tyler Warren after the plays he made? Yes, I understand the question.”

On the decision to go for it on fourth down and goal at the OSU 1 in the fourth quarter

“Yeah, not only (pin Ohio State deep if you don’t get it), you could get a safety and get the ball back, putting you in a position to win the game. Get a two-point safety and the ball back, three timeouts. They had a championship run there at the end. We didn’t play well in an obvious running situation. Did not handle well the fact that the offense did not score well in that situation.”

How do the Lions keep their focus moving forward?

“We have to do our very best to make sure we come in tomorrow and make the corrections. Sunday evening we have to flush it out and move on to Washington. We cannot allow one loss to turn into two. The reality of college football is that everything is still ahead of us, and we have to do a great job of making the corrections and eliminating the things that were unforced errors today. And then we have to find a way to win at home next week. Everything is still ahead of us.”

On the Lions’ pre- and post-snap penalties

“Yes, jumping off the sides in an obvious third down situation extended the drive for them. (Making) a tackle and standing over a man, unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a third down stop, extends a drive. That’s not possible. I can’t do those things. It happened last week, it happened again this week. That’s all my fault. We have to be a disciplined football team. We were not disciplined at times today.”

What is James Franklin’s message to the fans?

“I understand their frustration. Guys in the locker room are just as frustrated, if not more so. But college football has changed. Starting today, we have the chance to right some wrongs. And that’s what we’re going to focus on.

“I understand. We’re getting an incredible crowd here. We have incredible support. You don’t do that without passion. And there are great things that come from that, and there are difficult things that come from that. That’s part of the job. And I own it all. I own it all.”

Should Penn State have used Beau Pribula more?

“Well, I think the plan was to get Beau more involved with Drew based on how training went this week, but we didn’t have much success while he was there. So I think that probably played a role in it. When we didn’t have much success when he was there, we got away from it.

How do Franklin and the Lions assess themselves after another loss to Ohio State?

“Yeah, you know, again, there’s no one who looks in the mirror harder than me. I will say this, and I’ve said it before: 99 percent of the programs in college football would die if they did what we’ve been able to do in our time here, and that’s us, that’s all of us.

“But I also understand that when you’re at a place like Penn State, there are very, very high expectations. When you’re in a place like Ohio State, expectations are really high. I get it. I completely understand. So we looked at all these things very carefully. We will continue to look at these things very hard. There are many things I wanted to say when I came in here today, but it is not appropriate to say them now, so I will save them for another time.

About the good and the bad of Abdul Carter’s play in the defeat

“Right now, in this setting, I’m going to focus on the positive things he does. He is a player with an impact. We make the corrections in the locker room and the meeting room. But he’s a big player. He consistently makes big plays. There are things we all need to clean up, including Abdul.”

On what he saw on Drew Allar’s interception late in the first half that ended a Penn State scoring drive

“Drew made a nice throw. We had a chance to come down with the ball. They first called it incomplete, then they reviewed it and called it an interception. The guys watching on TV got a better idea of ​​how that whole thing played out. There were a lot of 50/50 calls in this game that you could call either way. There were a lot of them in this game, the (Quinshon Judkins) fumble on the sideline into the near arm that obviously goes out at the two-yard line and is called a (touchback). There are a lot of 50/50 calls that can go either way, and in those types of games they are critical. They are critical.

“Besides, I don’t have much more for you, but you know, obviously turning the ball over in the red zone and getting stopped when you’re down two inside five, that’s really the story of the game.”