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Franklin: Elated Penn State fans were 'grabbing my bald head'

James Franklin said he wanted to enjoy Penn State's 24-21 upset of No. 2 Ohio State for whatever was left of Saturday night and the wee hours of Sunday morning, even if he had 348 text messages on his phone that he needed to answer.

James Franklin said he wanted to enjoy Penn State's 24-21 upset of No. 2 Ohio State for whatever was left of Saturday night and the wee hours of Sunday morning, even if he had 348 text messages on his phone that he needed to answer.

"I basically texted back, 'Thank you. Thanks brother. Appreciate it,' and I copied and pasted it to everybody - men, women, coaches, neighbors, cousins, everybody," the Nittany Lions head coach said Wednesday.

He said he got home at 2:30 a.m., talked to his wife for an hour and went to sleep. He was up early that morning, went in the office to watch game tape and returned home for a brunch with the scores of recruits who attended the game.

He said one impact of the upset as he was walking off the field with athletic director Sandy Barbour was "all these students that were grabbing my bald head; I don't know if they were rubbing it for good luck."

"The police stopped them from doing that, but we were getting banged around all over the field," he said. "I saw recruits down there jumping and going crazy, so obviously it had an impact on them."

Back in the rankings

Penn State returned to the Associated Press top 25 poll this week for the first time since the final regular-season poll of 2011, coming in at No. 24.

"I think it's great," Franklin said. "I think the poll that really matters is the one at the end of the season. But it's nice. It's nice to be part of that conversation again."

Linebacker Jason Cabinda said the ranking "reminded me of why I came here, really, to help the team get back to where it needs to be."

"We're not there," he said. "We're taking this thing one week at a time. But for me, I think it's huge and it's good to see and know kind of where this program is going and what direction we're heading in."

Save by a punter

Franklin admired the third-quarter play by freshman punter Blake Gillikin, who raced back to the end zone after a snap sailed over his head and beat an Ohio State player to the loose ball for a safety.

"I thought he handled that really well," Franklin said. "You could make a decision there to either fall on the ball and scoop it up or kick it out the back of the end zone, and I thought he showed great poise and athleticism to go get that ball."