One of the ugliest part of college football is how some fans treat their favorite team’s coaches and players following a loss. That scenario played out following Penn State’s 31-26 loss at Minnesota two weeks ago.

QB Sean Clifford, who was 23-for-43 passing for 340 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions, said this week that he deleted social media because of death threats he received, Richard Scarcella of the Reading Eagle reported.

Clifford added, “It’s kind of sad to see how some fans get. I was sick and tired of getting death threats and some pretty explicit and tough-to-read messages.”

Teammate TE Pat Freiermuth on the death threats to Clifford: “It’s kind of cruel for people to do that. … It’s not like we’re trying to lose,” reported Josh Moyer of the Centre Daily Times.

Penn State coach James Franklin addressed the issue this week.

“It’s concerning, and you see it everywhere,” he said, according to Onward State. “I don’t know if I have an answer for it. You hate to see it, but the sad thing is it’s a part of the reality of our society right now.”

Here’s Franklin’s answer about the issue at the press conference, from Ben Jones of StateCollege.com.