James Franklin on Justin Fields: “Not just Justin, she’s all the bits around him too.”

When the # 2 player in the Recruiting Class of 2018 committed with Franklin and Nittany Lions – doing so in large part due to the bustling White Out environment that was absent on Saturday night – he could have brought super talent to State College.

Instead, Franklin had now had to lay out a game plan for him for two years in a row, and on Saturday night, his NFL five-player selection draft tied the highest of his career with four crosses to pair with 318 yards at 28 of 34 lanes. And a 199.7 quarterback rating.

Fields is possibly the best midfield player Franklin has coached against in his career, and when exactly that question was asked – Have you ever played a better midfielder than Justin Fields? Franklin stepped aside and instead deferred to the total talent Buckeyes deployed.

Franklin said, “I’m not sure.” “He’s talented, and not just Justin, he’s all the pieces around, too. I think we got a good lunge in passing. We didn’t get to him much tonight so they protected him really well. They did a good job mixing running and passing. They are very talented at scrolling. The ocean and the vast reception sites too – all the things we knew. ”

Franklin is not wrong.

When you have a receiver duo like Chris Olaf (seven catches, 120 yards, two touchdowns) and Garrett Wilson (11 catch points, 111 yards), the possibility of a former narrow five-star end in Jeremy Ruckert who catches two landing points and runs lead by perhaps the best offensive line Country (a streak that ends at over 200 yards led by a Master Teige 110 yards and with one score), there is definitely an absurd amount of talent to stop.

But there are also the silly throws Fields has been making all night long and here’s Houdini’s play:

Easy. He is magical.Embed a Tweet #Jubaki https://t.co/QbOLz1GGmw

Ohio State Football Association (OhioStateFB) November 1, 2020

So maybe the fields could have had more credit there.

Nevertheless, Franklin & Co. knew what they were facing in a match against the # 3 ranked team in the country with aspirations for the national title.

Franklin said, “We had a lot of respect for them for entering the game.” “But, obviously, tonight we couldn’t do any plays. We had a few chances for some big shows. He had a chance to get in the side way. You have to take advantage of the opportunities against a team like that. We weren’t able to handle the loss, they were always backing down ahead. We couldn’t get the bags or turn around. ”

Franklin also made clear his decision to go fourth in the first quarter, knowing that it would be impossible to stop the fatal Ohio State crime.

“We wanted to be aggressive,” Franklin said. “That’s why we went to it early. We went to this game knowing we would have to score points and score the touchdown. So we wanted to go to it as far as we could in fourth down positions.”