Does Penn State coach James Franklin want his team playing in the Big Ten title game?
When Penn State lost to Ohio State 20-13 at Beaver Stadium Nov. 2, most hopes of making the Big Ten Championship Game were lost.
Oregon remained undefeated and clinched a spot in Indianapolis last week. Indiana held the upper hand before losing to Ohio State Saturday.
Now in the final week of the regular season, Penn State still doesnโt control its destiny, but the door remains ajar.
Has the thought crossed Franklinโs mind?
โTo be honest with you, I haven’t spent a whole lot time thinking about that,โ Franklin said. โI’m completely focused on the Terps and the University of Maryland, and after that game, there are a lot of other things that have to happen.โย
All Penn State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) needs is an Ohio State loss to Michigan and to take care of business against Maryland to play the Ducks with an automatic bid on the line.
โThat is a possibility,โ Franklin said. โWe want an opportunity to compete as many times as we possibly can this year. If that includes a conference championship game, we would be very, very excited about that opportunity.โ
Oregon remains the No. 1 team in the country and has been through most of the AP Poll and all three weeks of the College Football Playoff rankings. The Ducks defeated Ohio State 32-31 in the final seconds and concluded with OSU quarterback Will Howard sliding with no time left. Not surprisingly, Franklin remained singularly focused on Maryland and didnโt want to react to any hypotheticals.ย
โAgain, all we have to do is focus on playing Maryland this week and if we’re not focused on that, then a lot of these other things that everybody else wants to talk about, then those things become questionable,โ Franklin said. โThose things become challenging. Those things become different. We have not talked about it in the Lasch Building once.โย
Penn State survived a 26-25 scare at Minnesota Saturday by going for it on 4th down three times on the final drive in the last five minutes, including a Luke Reynolds 32-yard fake punt.ย
โถ๏ธ Fake punt
โถ๏ธ Drew Allar keeper
โถ๏ธ Tyler Warren receptionNo. 4 @PennStateFball converted three 4th downs to seal the win at Minnesota.#B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/0kDSk7dHUm
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 24, 2024
A tip of the cap to Franklin, itโs the gutsiest game heโs ever called at Penn State. In a season and stretch of five years where heโs taken plenty of heat, Franklin trusted his playersโฆ and it paid off. If PSU lost to the Gophers, CFP desires would be in doubt if not completely gone.ย
Various outlets, including Sports Illustrated and CBS, project Penn State to will host its first home playoff game and slot between No. 6 and No. 8. Former Penn State tight end and college football analyst Adam Breneman projects PSU to host No. 11 Arizona State, with the winner playing No. 3 SMU.
My CFP prediction after Week 13 ๐ pic.twitter.com/h4WRzl71X7
— Adam Breneman (@AdamBreneman81) November 26, 2024
A few rankings projected a possible No. 9 ranking and Penn State playing on the road against Notre Dame or an SEC team. Some pundits have speculated on if a three-loss Alabama team might make the playoffs.ย
Penn State has won 10 games for the third consecutive season for the first time since 1980-82, winning the national championship in 1982. Tight end Tyler Warren is creeping up projected Heisman lists and is a finalist for the Mackey Award given to the nation’s top tight end. Itโs only human to think these possibilities have crossed Franklinโs mind, but until the final whistle blows on Saturday Franklin will keep his eyes on an 11-1 season for the first time since 2008.
โIโve got a ton of respect for the University of Maryland and the talent they have on their team every year,โ Franklin said. โAnything that happens after Saturday, we’ll be excited about those opportunities that we’ve earned.โ
