We now know who will be the celebrity guest picker for Penn State football’s showdown with Ohio State Saturday afternoon.
Thursday afternoon, ESPN College Gameday announced that Keegan Michael Key, a comedian best known for the work he did with Jordan Peele on “Key and Peele,” will be ESPN’s Special Guest Saturday.
So why is he the guest picker?
Well, Key is a graduate of Penn State, and his involvement with the football program has created some viral moments since James Franklin took over as coach in 2014. Key looks enough like Franklin to pass for a doppelgänger, and he’s taken advantage of that.
HOW IT STARTED
Photo by Penn State Athletics
Early in Franklin’s tenure at Penn State, Key was Penn State’s Homecoming Grand Marshall.
Then, the two hatched a grand plan. Key was to come into Penn State’s meeting room and imitated Franklin. It ended up being a smash hit.
Some highlights include:
“Guys, if I want to create a play, and I want you to create a big play, we’re going to get out they’re and we’re going to create a big play.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“It’s one game at a time, one week at a time, one day at a time, one play at a time.”
“Guys, I’ve never said this before. I’ve never said this before, but I’m going to say it today. It’s gonna be here before you know it.“
PAST GAMEDAY HILARITY
Key has imitated Franklin on GameDay before, doing so in September 2017. The context was that Key gave a fake response as Franklin to Franklin controversially calling timeout near the end of a 56-0 win over Georgia State the previous week.
After Penn State beat Iowa that night, Franklin used part of his postgame presser to clarify that it was Key, not he.
No. 3 Penn State is scheduled to take on No. 4 Ohio State at noon Saturday Nov. 2 on Fox.
