James Franklin chases down his players to make sure they shake hands after loss

College football writer

Sun, Nov 5, 2017, 2:32 AM

Penn State suffered a brutal loss for a second straight week, but head coach James Franklin was not going to let his players leave the field without shaking hands.

Immediately after Michigan State’s Matt Coghlin made the winning field goal as time expired, cameras panned to Franklin who was curiously sprinting toward some of his players, who were heading to the visitors locker room. It quickly became clear he wasn’t happy linebacker Koa Farmer decided not to shake hands with any MSU players. Franklin instructed Farmer and others to turn around and do so.

After the game, Franklin made it clear he was running to make sure his players shook hands with the MSU players.

“To make sure everybody’s clear, and don’t misinterpret this at the end of the game that I was running off the field. I would never do that,” Franklin said in his opening statement.

“I saw a few of our players running off the field, not going to shake hands. We’re going to win with class and we are going to lose with class, and we are going to shake people’s hands and give them credit because they deserved it.”

James Franklin: "We are going to lose with class." pic.twitter.com/OHqfirjkO8
— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 4, 2017

Penn State started the season 7-0 but are now 7-2 following back-to-back brutal road losses to Ohio State and Michigan State. The loss to Michigan State came after a three-hour weather delay. Penn State took a 24-21 lead on the final play of the third quarter, but could not hold on to the lead.