No matter the motivation, running your QB like that between snaps is dumb.
I was at the game, and I didn't see anything unusual. I do remember him running over to the sideline a few times, but it didn't seem like it was every play. I credit Narduzzi for having a good game plan, although he did make some questionable game time decisions. If I have a complaint, it was the absolutely horrible and slanted officiating.
Here's what I saw live; much of this within about a 15 minute span:
1. A Pitt player stuck his hand into Sean Cliffords Helmet while he was on the ground and pushed his face in. No Call.
2. A Pitt player punched a Penn State wide receiver in the back of the head as he was heading back to the huddle. No Call.
3. A Pitt player stepped on an injured KJ Hamler LONG after the play was over. No Call.
4. Two obvious targeting penalties BACK TO BACK. No Call.
5. A fairly obvious PSU fumble recovery in which the referees allowed the pile of bodies to continue to fight for the ball for almost 2 minutes. It felt like an eternity. It was almost as if they were watching to see if Pitt could get the ball back. Spoiler, after fighting 3 Pitt guys off for nearly two minutes, eventually the PSU guy lost. Ruling: Pitt football. I have never seen a scrum last that long in well over 20 years of watching cfb.
6. Pitt was blatantly holding on play after play. I rewatched the game on TV to see if it was as bad on TV as it looked in person. It was worse.
1-5 were blown up and shown on the big screen in high definition for the entire stadium to see. The boos raining down on the officials were so loud their grandchildren will still hear them.
After the game Franklin said he would talk about the officiating, but it would only result in a fine. I've never heard him mention officiating before.