Over 11 seasons in Happy Valley, coach James Franklin has taken the once-troubled Penn State football program and built it into a respectable competitor. The Big Ten title game against Oregon is his chance to take the next big step.
Penn State head coach James Franklin reacts during the third quarter of an NCAA college football game against Marylnad, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in State College, Pa. Penn State head coach James Franklin yells during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Minnesota, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Minneapolis. Penn State head coach James Franklin yells during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Minnesota, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Minneapolis.
The Nittany Lions and their 52-year-old coach have a chance to place something in the empty case — first if they can win the Big Ten title game Saturday against No. 1 and undefeated Oregon, then again in the College Football Playoff — a 12-team affair that No. 3 Penn State is virtually certain be part of, win or lose, against the Ducks.
Franklin, from the Philadelphia suburbs and a self-described “Pennsylvania boy with a Penn State heart,” figured out the delicate balance between respecting Paterno and his 56 years at the school without deifying him. That’s the prism through which a lot of the school’s diehards view Franklin’s 1-10 record against Ohio State. That’s how they view his 3-18 record in games against teams in the AP top 10. That’s why they look sideways at the fact that the coach is on his sixth offensive coordinator in 11 years. It’s why they say that, yes, Franklin wins lots of games — just not the big ones.
This will mark the first time since the early 1980s that Penn State has strung together three straight seasons with double-digit wins.earlier this year.. “He comes here and brings in recruits. For him to turn Penn State back into a very, very reputable and respectable place to play football was probably a job that very few people realize how daunting a task it was.
Maybe a new setting with new stakes is the thing that gets Franklin over the hump. Even his lone Big Ten title, in 2016, did not bring with it a trip to the playoffs, which was only four teams then.
Penn State Nittany Lions James Franklin Pat Freiermuth St Coach Ohio State Buckeyes OR State Wire Ohio State Buckeyes Football PA State Wire Penn State Nittany Lions Football IN State Wire Joe Paterno Jerry Sandusky Oregon Sports Tony Rojas Pennsylvania
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