How will Penn State football team react after tumultuous week

They feel it’s their fault.

Penn State’s announcement Sunday that head football coach James Franklin was being fired caught a lot of folks off guard. Well off guard.

That includes Nittany Lions players and assistant coaches.

“Ultimately, for us, at least as players, it’s just an overwhelming sense of guilt,” senior offensive lineman Nick Dawkins told local reporters. “Like, we got our coach fired. We didn’t play well enough. We didn’t do our job good enough, and now he doesn’t have a job anymore.”

Penn State made it to the FBS playoff semifinals last season and was the No. 2-ranked team in the country in the first AP Top 25 poll. The school significantly upped its NIL intake in order to keep important players such as quarterback Drew Allar and running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen in the fold and to bring in big-time transfers to fill holes on the roster.

It even threw unprecedented money at renowned defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to get him to leave Ohio State.

But the Nittany Lions weren’t overly impressive in their first games this season (all wins), lost in overtime to Oregon in their fourth, and then the wheels fell off. Back-to-back shocking losses to UCLA and Northwestern (at home, no less) led to Franklin’s dismissal.

“We all failed Coach Franklin. That’s why he’s not here,” Terry Smith told reporters Wednesday.

Smith is the interim head coach the rest of the season. His first game leading the team comes Saturday night against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium (6 p.m. opening kickoff/Peacock).

A wide receiver at Penn State, Smith is in his 12th season on staff at his alma mater. He was an associate head coach for Franklin, cornerbacks coach and defensive recruiting coordinator.

“The temperament is, there are guys that are shocked that it happened. You know, we didn't anticipate this. The staff, we didn't anticipate this. But it has happened,” Smith said. “And so every person that's in the Lasch football building, James Franklin brought them there. From the coaches to the staff to all the personnel in the building, he brought every one of us there. There is an attachment to him, there is a sense of loyalty to him.

“Now it's my job to press us forward. It's my job for us to be where our feet are, be grounded right here, and be able to represent Penn State in a proud fashion. We have to get our grittiness back, our toughness, our swag, and most importantly, we have to go have fun, enjoy playing the game of football.“

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Adding to Penn State’s misery is that Allar injured a leg in the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s loss to Northwestern and is out for the remainder of the season. Redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer will quarterback PSU against Iowa.

He is 8-for-11 passing this season for 105 yards and a touchdown.

“I definitely feel prepared,” Grunkemeyer told local reporters this week. “There’s definitely some things in this role that are a little bit different, but I think just (assistant coaches Danny O’Brien’s and Trace McSorley’s) understanding of our offense and just the quarterback position in general has really helped me this week. I feel super ready.”

Will Penn State be super ready? That is the largest question for Saturday night’s game.

“Do your job. Do it for Coach Franklin. Do it for the guy to the left and right of you,” Penn State offensive lineman Dom DeLuca told local reporters. “Do it for everyone at this point, all the Penn Staters who love the game and love the Nittany Lions.”

“Philosophically I can't imagine they're going to change much, and I don't know why they would. They don't need to,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “But, yeah, what the reaction is going to be, nobody can predict it.”

That seems to include Smith.

"We've got to prepare for Iowa, but I've got to get these guys emotionally ready to play a football game," he said Wednesday. "Each day is getting better. Sunday was really traumatizing to them. Monday, they called down a little bit but had some anger in them. Yesterday was show up for practice coach, and give you some effort. Today was, 'Hey, we'll run a little harder.' I think we're headed in the right direction."

Comments: jeff.johnson@thegazette.com