James Franklin and fans (Photo via @bigsengtweets X)
On Saturday, the Penn State Nittany Lions took on the Ohio State Buckeyes in a matchup that featured two top-five teams in the country. Ohio would come out on top, and it seemed to be a boiling point for Penn State head coach James Franklin.After the game, a crowd of Nittany Lions fans congregated near the home team’s tunnel entrance. Of course, the passionate fans likely voiced their displeasure with how the game had turned out.

Franklin had gotten an earful of it and went straight over to them. “If you’re gonna be man enough to talk, what’s your name?” he said.

The fan quickly walked away as Franklin continued back into the tunnel.

Of course, you have to imagine that there were a lot of emotions going through Franklin’s head at the moment.

Not only did Penn State lose to a team ranked lower than them, but they did it at home.

What makes it even worse is that going into the game, Franklin’s teams had a 1-13 career record when they were against a top-five-ranked team.

This was a huge chance for him to flip the narrative and solidify Penn State’s spot in the College Football Playoffs, but that wasn’t the case.

Social Media Did Not Like The Way James Franklin Handeled The Situation

When you become the head coach of one of the country’s most prominent college football programs, much criticism will come your way.

That’s why many social media users disliked how Franklin handled the heckler and thought he should have ignored them.

It certainly isn’t a good look for Franklin, who has been with Penn State since 2014 and has a 95-39 record.