James Franklin says Penn State made it “harder than it needs to be” in win over Illinois

In Week 5, No. 9 Penn State faced its biggest challenge of the 2024 season so far with No. 19 Illinois visiting Beaver Stadium after a 4-0 start for the Fighting Illini. Head coach James Franklin’s Nittany Lions pulled away in the second half for a 21-7 win in their Big Ten opener to get to 4-0, but Franklin wasn’t completely pleased with the performance. 

Penn State was flagged for six penalties for 63 yards, including a personal foul on Illinois’s first drive of the game, which led to a touchdown. Then, in the fourth quarter, cornerback AJ Harris intercepted Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer and returned it for a touchdown, but a block in the back wiped the points off the board. 

The Nittany Lions missed out on more points with two missed field goals from much-maligned junior kicker Sander Sahaydak. So, in his postgame on-field interview with NBC’s Kathryn Tappen, the 11th-year Penn State head coach expressed his mild displeasure with his undefeated team. 

“We’re getting better as an entire offense, obviously Drew’s doing some great things,” Franklin said, “we’ve got to finish in the red zone, we’ve got to do that on offense. Defense, we’ve got to clean up the penalties, we’re making things harder than it needs to be.” 

Franklin went on to compliment his counterpart Bret Bielema and his team. He was also complimentary of his running backs, Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen who combined for 196 yards and two touchdowns, both in the second half. 

“I can’t imagine that there’s a combination of two backs that are better in the country,” Franklin told Tappen. “They’re playing behind an offensive line and tight ends that are doing some great things and then Ty(ler) Warren comes in, and we’re about to use him in so many ways, a lot of weapons which is awesome.” 

Warren, Franklin’s veteran do-it-all tight end only caught four passes for 34 yards, but he took multiple snaps at quarterback, rushing twice for 13 yards and a touchdown, and handing off to Singleton on his touchdown run. 

It wasn’t perfect for the Nittany Lions, but Penn State is 4-0 with a ranked win on the resume and UCLA coming to town next week. It’s not a bad spot to be in, especially with room to improve.