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Penn State HC James Franklin Responds to Pat McAfee Hyping Up West Virginia

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5 months ago

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Penn State HC James Franklin
Matt Lynch / Nittany Sports Now

There are few people in the national media more passionate about their school than Pat McAfee is about WVU. Penn State head coach James Franklin knows that and offered a response to what McAfee has been saying about West Virginia opening the season with the Nittany Lions in Morgantown.

For context, McAfee predicted that Garrett Greene and the Mountaineers will “run wild” over Penn State during a segment of “The Pat McAfee Show” last week. Below is what he said in full.

“Speaking of Penn State, look out Week 1. Okay? Have you seen what Neal Brown looks like right now? Let alone listen to the words he says and how much he has his team’s back. He was on Marty and McGee this past weekend and I’ll tell you what, if you’re in the Big 12 it is time to start s****** your pants. This is a new f****** Neal Brown. We’re about to f****** run the Big 12. You hear how mad he is? Have you seen GG run wild ever before? A hundred players better than GG? Oh, okay. Garrett Greene is about to run wild on Penn State Week 1 in Morgantown.”

And while Franklin respects what McAfee brings to college football, he explained why his team won’t be feeding into any back and forth with WVU players or notable alumni.

“Well, first of all, I love Pat McAfee and his energy and enthusiasm for sports. I think he’s been good for college athletics in general. I think he’s fun. I think his ability to speak freely is unique and fun in a lot of ways. For us, it’s a fine line. I think it’s very similar to the old billboard material. I want to make sure that our guys don’t say anything and our staff doesn’t say anything that creates billboard material because for some people, that motivates them. I want to make sure that I’m not talking out of both sides of my mouth with our staff and our players because I also strongly recommend our players getting off of social media, especially in-season. That’s easier said than done.”

McAfee then returned fire again by saying “I don’t like anything about the answer he just gave” after Franklin’s response was played for the Mountaineer turned media mogul on Monday.

Franklin also knows the situation his team will be facing when it opens the season at WVU.

“It’s a hornet’s nest,” said Franklin when asked about starting the season on the road against West Virginia at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday.

“They take a lot of pride in their football team. They’ve got no pro team, so it’s all about West Virginia, all about Morgantown. So it will be a great environment to play in.”

This new exchange between McAfee and Franklin comes on the heels of a Penn State player responding to WVU defensive back Garnett Hollis opening up with his true feelings about Penn State.

PSU defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton offered his thoughts about what Hollis had to say.

“I don’t really know the guy, it’s nothing against him. I’m sure he’s a great player at West Virginia. My whole thing was, you know, it just came off a certain way,” responded Dennis-Sutton to a direct question about Hollis’ comments.

For a related story, WVU players are still talking about Penn State scoring in the final seconds of the 2023 season opener.

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