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‘Mad Dog’ Says Penn State HC James Franklin Might be Among Most Overrated Coaches in CFB History

James Franklin during pregame warmups before Penn State's matchup with Delaware.

Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo made his thoughts known on Penn State last week, and this week, he doubled down.

Russo blasted Penn State days after the team’s 20-12 loss at Ohio State Oct. 21.

That coach is incredibly overrated,” Russo said. “James Franklin. “They never beat a halfway decent team. They were inept offensively against the Buckeyes on Saturday in Columbus.”

PSU QB Drew Allar went 18-for-42 for 191 yards. Russo wasn’t impressed. 

“That quarterback, who everybody tells me, Allar, oh, he’s going to be a No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft next year. No, he’s not,” Russo said, now raising his voice. “He was a deer in headlights. They were so bad. Did anybody see that?”

This Wednesday, Russo was at it again.

When discussing the first batch of College Football Playoff rankings with co-host Stephen A. Smith and guest Paul Finebaum— who has his own thoughts on Franklin— Russo disagreed with Ohio State being No. 1.

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Part of the reason was because he doesn’t feel OSU’s win over Penn State was all that impressive

“If anybody’s going to sit there and say anything about Penn State, Franklin, as we discussed last week, Paul agrees, he might be one of the most overrated college football coaches in the history of the sport,” Russo said. “He never beats a good team. He should have lost to Indiana this past week, for crying out loud.”

Penn State almost did lose to Indiana, who came in as a 32-point underdog, and needed a late TD pass from Allar to escape with a win.

Despite that heroic, Russo also doubled down on Allar, calling him “overrated.”

Penn State is again a double-digit favorite this week at Maryland, so whatever it does probably won’t change Russo’s mind. A game against No. 2 Michigan Nov. 11 might be a different story.

 

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