The narrative for the losing coach of the Ohio State and Penn State matchup was already written well before kickoff: The head coach of the losing team always comes up short in big games.
So as Ohio State was able to run out the clock and secure the 20-13 win in hostile Happy Valley, James Franklin knew full well what kind of questions he was going to field in his postgame presser.
The loss dropped Franklin to 1-7 against top 10 teams at home while at Penn State, 1-9 against top 5 teams, and 1-10 against Ohio State as the leader of the Nittany Lions.
On his way off the field, Franklin was confronted by an angry fan who pointed out their three trips deep inside Buckeyes territory where they were only able to come away with three points.
Credit Franklin, who instead of snapping back and losing his cool, simply asked the fan for his name.
"What's your name?" Franklin asked after a healthy stare down.
"If you're going to be man enough to talk, what's your name?"
The fan turned and walked away after Franklin's question.
Plenty of folks won't like the interaction at all, and that's fine. This is far from the worst behavior, but there are plenty of recent examples of fans overstepping boundaries with coaches and players, and this is a great example of handling a heckler with a cool, logical head and moving on.
James Franklin responded to heckling Penn State fans after the loss to Ohio State: “If you’re gonna be man enough to talk, what’s your name?” pic.twitter.com/kILxOn8UqU
— Seth Engle (@bigsengtweets) November 2, 2024