If you were expecting things to cool down from the Pitt-Penn State contest after the game, you’ll be waiting for quite a while.

Penn State coach James Franklin discussed an interesting thing yesterday. After the game, he talked about his offense finding it difficult to get into a rhythm with their cadence being disrupted by the Pitt players clapping on the field. He went to the referees only to find that the clapping was indeed legal.

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi responded during his own press conference and basically said, go kick rocks.

“I guess that’s just another excuse, okay” Narduzzi said. “If you go back and watch our first game. It’s a way of telling our defensive linemen what to do. “We’re allowed signals, too ... that’s what we do. Go back and watch tape of our opener, same thing our guys are clapping all the time. That’s what we do to get our defensive tackles to move where we want them to move.”

Two points of interest here for me. First, Narduzzi stated that they did the same thing at Michigan State. If that’s the case, it shouldn’t have been something that caught Penn State off guard. Second, Narduzzi referenced Pitt doing it this game but said nothing about it being done last year. Almost makes me wonder if this is a new thing entirely they brought to the table this year.

If it’s within the rules, it seems like something opposing teams have to adjust for. I can see how it would be distracting, but lots of things can be distracting when playing football. I mean, should defensive players not be allowed to talk or move around during the offense’s signals, too?

I can see why it would frustrate Franklin, but at the same time, it’s obviously within the rules. Penn State even had a blueprint to prepare for it if Pitt did indeed use that in the opener against Villanova.