Urban Meyer surprisingly backs former rival Big Ten head coach amid latest controversy

Penn State achieved a significant victory last weekend on the West Coast, defeating USC in overtime—a game that some Nittany Lions felt deserved a bold celebration.

After the win, several Penn State players inserted a ‘We Are Penn State’ flag into the USC logo at the 50-yard line of the Trojans’ home field. However, Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin quickly intervened, taking the flag away. Urban Meyer, who has faced similar situations in the past, recently discussed this on The Triple Option podcast with Rob Stone and Mark Ingram.

“I can’t remember the exact game, and our players knew, we would always talk about that. Act like you’ve been there and those players, and there’s alumni, that pick fights. And I love players having fun, but have fun at your own expense. Don’t have fun at someone else’s expense,” Meyer said. “When I saw that, once again Mark, I believe in players having fun, but have fun at your own expense. I’m such a college football fan, you don’t do that, and I’m glad they didn’t do that.”

There have been memorable instances of players planting flags at midfield in college football history, such as Baker Mayfield placing the Oklahoma flag at Ohio State’s field and Texas retaliating by placing a Longhorns flag over Mayfield’s Oklahoma jersey.

Ingram expressed his belief that Penn State, given the circumstances of Saturday's game, wasn't in a position to claim their territory at the Colosseum.

“At the end of the day, you just got off the hook because they missed the field goal,” Ingram said. “So you could have easily lost this game man. You’ve got bigger problems on your plate than planting a flag.”

Thanks to this victory, Penn State remains undefeated this season and has climbed to No. 3 in the AP Poll. Nevertheless, Meyer shared insights he used to convey to his players concerning celebration conduct while he was a head coach.

“We used to have a rule that whoever scores a touchdown you throw the ball the official and you go hug the lineman, because they got you there. So Zeke Elliot was the best at it, I’d show the videos on Sundays of the players celebrating with the offensive lineman,” Meyer said. “And I said however, if you score and you want to do something nuts, go nuts now.

“I mean take your helmet off, jump in the crowd, because it’s your last time you’re going to score in a while. You’re done, you’re not going to play. And the players used to just laugh like crazy, because I’d say don’t just dance in the end zone. I mean go nuts, make it worthwhile, I mean take your shoulder pads off, take everything, throw the ball, kick the ball in the stands and don’t stop,” Meyer continued. “Keep going, because you will not score again for the next four or five games.”

As Penn State aims for more celebrations this season—eyeing the Big Ten title and the College Football Playoff—it will be interesting to see how they navigate celebrations, especially in light of their head coach’s reaction to the recent flag-planting incident.