Penn State coach James Franklin absolutely did a fantastic job getting his team ready to play No. 4 Ohio State. He didn't do nearly as good a job coaching his team to win in situational football, though. As a result, you got the No. 9 Nittany Lions' botched inside run on fourth-and-5 with the game on the line. And a 27-26 loss. 

This play, mind you, came after multiple timeouts, and even then it looked clunky from the start. It was a bad call, and Franklin said as much in his post-game presser. "We should have called something different there," he lamented. The fourth-down play seen 'round the college football world highlighted Week 5. As one of the top stories from the day, Franklin's call naturally warranted further questioning. 

Twitter was understandably perplexed

It's not like people on social media to be upset about something, but lo and behold, Twitter came together to collectively question what Penn State was doing with that inside run. It's easy to be an armchair play-caller, but this was a rare moment of unified confusion. 

Franklin took responsibility for the call (and what led up to it)

Franklin knows he and the coaching staff came up short in key situations, not just the aforementioned fourth down. The term "chess match" was used frequently in Saturday night's broadcast and the Nittany Lions most definitely did not win that match. 

"They changed looks, so we called a timeout and had some discussions," Franklin said. "We obviously didn't make the right call in that situation, and that's on me, nobody else. Obviously, it didn't work. We have called something similar like that in other situations, and it broke for big plays, but that is on us. That is on me."

This was likely a paralysis by analysis moment for Penn State. In these situations, you don't need to call the perfect play in the script. You need to call the best play that's been working, which in this case would have been something in which quarterback Trace McSorley was more actively involved. Franklin might have felt the play had a high success rate, but it came across as overthinking it. 

Franklin's opening remarks were inspired, but overshadowed the call

Franklin's opening remarks about the game included a broad-brushed statement with buzz-phrases like explaining the difference between "good," "great" and "elite." Franklin discussed extensively the little details, all the way down to academics, adding up and roped them into an admission that the fourth-down call was pretty damn bad. 

Franklin's letting off some steam after an emotional game. He's not wrong, either, and one can certainly appreciate his fire and emotion. Franklin has, indeed, elevated the platform for Penn State, and it is excruciatingly close to being playoff-caliber. And, yes, those little things he mentioned* do matter in taking the next step. Nick Saban calls it "The Process," and every coach ever has some kind of similar mantra. 

*And recruiting

But that's not why the fourth-down call failed. The call failed because it was poorly blocked, took the ball out of its best player's hands -- McSorley had 461 yards and accounted for 93 percent of his team's total yardage  -- and no one was on the same page. This was not a "you're a genius if you get it and an idiot if you don't" kind of deal. That play was not working regardless; Ohio State was simply ready for it. 

Yes, a lot of little moments put Penn State in a situation to even need a fourth-and-5 conversion. This was a team up 13-0 closing in on halftime and it had a 12-point lead late in the fourth quarter. This situation didn't need to happen. But it did happen, and in that case, you want your best play -- the type of stuff that's been working for you all game. Or maybe it's an ace in the hole. Whatever it is, it needs to work. Penn State didn't have that and it's not because someone got a C on their biology exam.