VIDEO: Feel the atmosphere at Penn State Football White Out
The Penn State football team's White Out game has become one of college football's premier traditions. Our video takes you to Beaver Stadium to see it.
York Daily Record
- Penn State football players are fighting the firing of head coach James Franklin.
- Senior players expressed guilt, believing their performance led to the coach's sacking.
- The team is trying to regroup after a three-game losing streak derailed a promising season.
- The Nittany Lions will face Iowa as underdogs with a new starting quarterback.
Penn State Football World awaits players this week.
They're still trying to absorb losing their longtime head coach preparing for another crucial game on Saturday, this time in vibrant Iowa.
Trying to find a way to break a stunning three-game losing streak with new starting quarterback And new leader.
Seniors such as offensive lineman Nick Dawkins and linebacker Dom DeLuca spoke about the process Tuesday and their feelings toward the recently fired coach. James Franklin.
“Ultimately, for us, at least as players, it’s just an overwhelming sense of guilt,” Dawkins said. “It’s like we got fired from our coach. We didn't play well enough. We didn't do our job well enough and now he doesn't have a job anymore.”
“At the moment, resilience, toughness, yeah, all that stuff. But I think it's playing for a purpose, playing for each other… Maybe it's a new sense of ownership, responsibility and accountability for what we've done in the past and what we need to do now.”
Nittany Lionsranked No. 2 in the nation just a few weeks ago, soared after a double-overtime loss to Oregon. On their homecoming they suffered shocking defeats to huge underdogs UCLA and Northwestern University. And they often seem surprisingly bored and unprepared as they go through it.
After a highly anticipated season failed and fans turned on Franklin and even his team, university officials fired Franklin on Sunday. A day later, interim head coach Terry Smith urged his Lions to “get back our toughness, our toughness, our toughness and, most importantly, we need to go out and have fun and enjoy the game of football.”
DeLuca, a former player and team captain, talked about moving forward despite many distractions.
“It’s not easy, I’ll definitely say that. I know a bunch of guys, after we heard the news, they had dinner together that night, hung out, just relaxed, took their mind off it, got it all out of their minds, got it out of their minds and just were able to talk,” DeLuca said. “I feel like it was important to a lot of people and it definitely helped a lot of people.
“I feel sorry for the young guys, it’s hard to go through. I can't imagine being a freshman going through this, especially with everything going on in college football right now. Just being able to keep everyone's head on their shoulders and move forward and have a positive attitude about everything and just trying to focus week by week.”
For the first time all season, the Lions will be underdogs when they play Iowa.
First time senior Drew Allar was injured and ended his season.will not be their protector.
For the first time, we played without the head coach who “every one of us is in the locker room, on the team… got us here,” Dawkins said.
Mission?
“Do your job. Do it for Coach Franklin. Do it for the guy to your left and right,” DeLuca said. “Do it for everyone at this point, for all the Pennsylvania players who love the game and love the Nittany Lions.”
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.
