Penn State coach James Franklin calls West Virginia one of the nation's least-appreciated teams ahead of their game in Morgantown.
Penn State coach James Franklin has made no secret that he favors easing into a season with a favorable non-conference game, preferably at home. The Nittany Lions get neither Saturday, when they visit West Virginia for one of college football's most-anticipated Week 1 games.
The game is sold out, and a spectacle is forthcoming. FOX's Big Noon Kickoff will broadcast from Almost Heaven Village, West Virginia grad Pat McAfee is bringing his ESPN show to campus and musician Machine Gun Kelly will deliver a live pre-game performance. Area West Virginia is treating this like a playoff game, and Franklin believes that the Mountaineers might field a playoff contender against the Nittany Lions.
"I don't know if disrespect is the right word, but maybe they're getting the least appreciation in the country, in my opinion," Franklin said on the Penn State Coaches Show on Thursday. "Under-ranked, undervalued, whatever you want to say. They won nine games last year, and if you watch the Houston game, they really won 10.
"It gets everybody’s attention," Franklin said of starting the season on the road against a Power 4 team. "It helps. But I would also say, there’s a reason in the NFL they have preseason games. There's a reason in college football that a lot of people start out with lower-level games. ... You're trying to knock some of the rust off, and we're not in a position to do that with the opponent we're playing Week 1 on the road.
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