'Field goal Gate' at Penn State? James Franklin explains himself again before Iowa

His undefeated Nittany Lions open the Big Ten season this weekend, going on the road for the first time at Iowa's rocking Kinnick Stadium.

James Franklin, though, opened his weekly press conference by talking about "Field goal Gate or Timeout Gate or whatever you guys want to call it."

Ever since he called timeout at the end of Penn State's victory over Georgia State — with the Lions up 56-0 and the Panthers trying to kick a field goal — people have been asking him about it, ranting about it and defending it.

The Georgia State kicker made the kick attempt but just after timeout was called. His re-do attempt was no good, preserving the Lions' shutout.

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The most outspoken critic may have been New York's WFAN radio host Mike Francesca, who railed on Franklin for more than 10 minutes Monday. 

Part of Francesca's name-calling tirade included this:

"It's 56-0, let him kick the ball! And then try to lie about it? What a stooge. What he hasn't got is any class, because why would you do that to a kid up 56-0?! 'We had our fourth team on the field, we didn't have a fourth-team field-goal block.' What the heck do you need to block it for?! Let the ball go through the uprights, you jerk. So he calls timeout to get the second-team field goal block in. What a bunch of garbage that is. He sells you that, he'll sell you anything. The guy iced him, plain and simple, because he wanted a shutout."

So Franklin brought up the matter himself Tuesday afternoon. He also addressed it late Saturday evening.

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"To be very clear, I was not icing anyone. I want to be as clear as I possibly can be. We had our fourth-team defense ... (and) we've never worked a fourth-team field goal block. I'm on the headset and the (defensive assistants are) talking about how those guys won't be able to line up. I call timeout, we get the second team on the field, and from that point on, we're going to go block the kick.

"People said when the score is 56-0, we should just stand there and let someone kick it through the uprights. If that's how you think and how you feel, then you won't ever understand me and you won't ever understand us. Whether it's the first play of the game or whether it's the last play of the game or whether we're losing or whether we're winning ... we are going to fight for every inch on the field, every yard on the field, every second on the clock, we're going to fight."

Key Lions expected to return

Starting senior guard Brendan Mahon and backup linebacker Cam Brown are expected to play at Iowa after missing the Georgia State victory for undisclosed reasons, Franklin said.

Part of the offense's continued struggles running the ball, especially with star Saquon Barkley, were a product of Mahon's absence, Franklin said. That forced the Lions to shift guard Steven Gonzalez and insert redshirt freshman Will Fries, making his first collegiate start.

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However, despite defenses overloading to stop Barkley's running, "I don't think there's any doubt we have to get better at running the ball between the tackles," Franklin said. 

He did not give a definitive answer on the availability of starting defensive end Torrence Brown, who suffered some type of leg injury last Saturday and was carted off the field. It does seem unlikely that he would make the trip.