It just seems like everything that happened in the Lucas Oil Stadium this stadium was written in the stars for James Franklin and Penn State. Playing a Big 10 championship game is no joke, especially when it’s against the nation’s number 1 team. The anxiety becomes tenfold. Franklin, 52, felt it all, but like so often happens in these situations, he couldn’t shake off the nerves. Oregon remains unbeaten. Straight and simple. The pain of the 45-37 after reaching this far in the season is tormenting, and any strong emotion is completely justified. What’s not justified is how Franklin rubbed the Big 10 committee wrong with a JV comment. The barbarism caught the fans off guard, making them reel off all dismay on a random Twitter trolling spree.

The Nittany Lions put on a solid fight against the top-ranked, undefeated Ducks. Turning an early 28-10 lead to 45-37 was not a cakewalk. Penn State even got their moment to tie the game, but their final drive fell victim to Nikko Reed’s interception of Drew Allar’s pass with 1:54 left in the clock. The victory remained untouched, but a good fight never goes unnoticed. Everything was in place unless and until Franklin sat for a post-game press conference.

During the conversation, Franklin felt heavily disturbed by the Oregon squad playing their quintessential fight song and fans unwinding loudly outside the press room. The commotion added fuel to the fire of the veteran Penn State coach’s fresh woes. He couldn’t just hold back his disgust and let it out in a ruthless way. ”I have no problem with them celebrating, but this is kind of a JV set-up,’‘ Franklin commented out of frustration. But the consequences robbed him big time shortly after.

Moments after the video clip went viral, fans started to rattle against the loser coach for being unnecessarily rude and made some out-of-the-blue allegations against the Big 10.

Fans roasted James Franklin following the Big Ten Championship loss

For context, ‘junior varsity setup’ here refers to the neutral Lucas Oil Stadium configuration. Initially, he questioned how this setup made sense, and his frustration quickly showed. In essence, he was calling out what he saw as a lack of professionalism in event management, which understandably sparked a wave of criticism.

Fans put their emotion out, saying he’s just shifting to cover up his inability as a coach. One fan name-called him and threw it like, ‘This is hilarious. What clown Franklin is! Another one took a sharper shot at his coaching resume, which is consistently failing short against the big teams. ”James Franklin is a loser. He can’t win big games. lol at Penn State,” the hatred swirled over the feed like confetti. 

Franklin didn’t just stop there. He continued to vent out frustration targeting the referees. ”I don’t want this to come off the wrong way, I give Oregon a ton of credit, but the penalties were pretty lopsided,” the coach said in a controversial revelation. More reasons added up to the fans’ pique. Questioning his mannerisms, a fan wrote, ”He’s like that everywhere he goes, always exhibiting a lack of class.”

Another user went to an extreme to call out his legitimacy. “The only thing JV in Indianapolis is James Franklin. Never wins the big game. He is a fraud,” they said. Coach Franklin really made himself a social media antagonist. One fan backfired his claim on his team, noting, ”That school shouldn’t be allowed to have a football program in the first place. Epstein’s favorite University.”

The rant and anti-rant game stretches longer, but the bottom line is it is not the end of the world for Franklin and Penn State. They are still in the playoff picture, awaiting a little push of fate.