Franklin clarifies late timeout with 56-0 lead vs. Georgia State

James Franklin caught some flack for calling a timeout with 11 seconds remaining and a 56-0 lead in Penn State's game against Georgia State on Saturday, but the head coach made it clear he doesn't care for those who don't understand his rationale.

Franklin clarified his decision Tuesday to call the timeout at such a late point in the blowout win, citing a desire to upgrade his defensive unit for the upcoming field-goal block.

"We had mostly our fourth-team defense, some threes, on the field," Franklin said, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. "I've been doing this 23 years. We've never worked a fourth-team field-goal block. I'm on the headset and our defensive coaches are talking about how those guys won't even know how to line up. I'm shaking my head and the recommendation was to get the second team in there. I call the timeout and we are able to get the second team on the field, and from that point on, we're going to go block the kick."

The timeout could be, and evidently was, interpreted by many to be the common technique of "icing" an opposing kicker, a practice generally viewed as questionable gamesmanship given the insurmountable lead. Franklin held firm to his reasoning, however, and essentially told everyone who doesn't understand the true nature of his program to kick rocks.

"If people don't think that we should go block the kick at the end of the game because of the score, then you probably won't understand us," Franklin said. "We have a standard of how we do things and I want our guys to do that on the football field and I want them to do that in life. If you have a bad day, you've still got to go to work in the morning. When something bad happens at work, you've still got to come home and be a great father and a great husband. The situation or the elements, should not affect our standard and how we do things.

"It's their job to try to score. It's our job to try to keep them out of the end zone. It's not a whole lot more than that."