History is written by the victors. And X immortalizes the loser's questionable decisions.
Penn State head coach James Franklin scored several goals in Thursday night's Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal — the Nittany Lions lost on Notre Dame's Mitch Jeter's late-game field goal. It was a tough game — but nothing drew more ire than his play calls. About the winner of that game.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman sent out his field goal unit with 12 seconds left, and the ball was set up right between the hash marks at Penn State's own 23-yard line. In response, Franklin moved two players back to about 15 yards from the line of scrimmage in case Freeman faked a kick.
Freeman wasn't like that.
Nine Penn State defenders rushed at the snap, and each of the two edge rushers was a step or two away from touching the ball with their hands or fingers.
But the snap was clean, the hold was good, and Jeter's kick crossed the line of scrimmage unimpeded. The two defenders backed up near the 10-yard line and watched as the kick sailed over their heads and into the uprights, giving the Fighting Irish a three-point lead.
After the ensuing kickoff, Penn State took it back from its own 25-yard line just seven seconds later.
AP
The sudden end of the season was certainly heartbreaking, but it still led to a ton of people commenting on “X.”
“When you play Madden, sometimes you press the wrong button.” made a joke.
“You have to hand it to James Franklin. He wasn't going to let Notre Dame beat him with a fake field goal.” I wrote something else.
Other users pointed out that if the Nittany Lions hadn't turned the ball over late in the fourth quarter, Franklin and company would never have been forced to defend a field goal for the season.
With the game tied at 24 and Penn State retreating to its own 28-yard line, Franklin lofted a pass that Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Christian Gray intercepted near midfield. At this point, there was just over 33 seconds left on the clock.
