Penn State coach James Franklin and Ohio State coach Ryan Day have both lost far more than they’ve won against top five teams.
Franklin is 1-8 against top five teams.
Day is 2-7.
One advantage Day has over Franklin is that he’s 5-0 against him head to head.
But this season, James Franklin and Penn State are still unbeaten at 7-0 while Day and Ohio State are 6-1 with a loss at Oregon last month.
Before No. 3 Penn State and No. 4 Ohio State clash Saturday at noon, two of ESPN’s College GameDay talent gave their takes on which coach is under more pressure.
WHAT DESMOND HOWARD SAID
BLOOMINGTON, IN – OCTOBER 26: ESPN College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard on set prior to a college football game between the Washington Huskies and Indiana Hoosiers on October 26, 2024 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire)
“It just depends on which side that you’re on. I think both coaches have a lot to prove… both have really bad records against top five teams. There’s no hiding that. So I think both have a lot to prove. I would say that there’s a lot of pressure on Ryan Day. It seems as though this administration went all in this offseason. It’s no secret that they spent more than 20 million dollars to put together a roster to win the national championship. Penn State didn’t do that (laughs). (Ohio State) went out and got Chip Kelly, who left his head-coaching job at UCLA to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator. So it seems like they pushed all the chips to the middle of the table during the offseason which I said on Instagram that it was unfair for them to do this because now you’re telling your coach “this is do or die.”
WHAT RECE DAVIS SAID
BLOOMINGTON, IN – OCTOBER 26: ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis on set prior to a college football game between the Washington Huskies and Indiana Hoosiers on October 26, 2024 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN (Photo by James Black/Icon Sportswire)
“Whoever loses. I mean, I know that’s a silly answer but think about it. I mean whoever wins the game, then all of a sudden the pressure moves in another direction. Now you have to win a national championship, right? So whoever loses the game, the narrative that you mentioned, which is real, I’m not diminishing it, it’s a real thing. If you are at Ohio State and Penn State, you’re supposed to win… so whoever loses is going to hear about it.”
Penn State and Ohio State are scheduled to kickoff at noon on Fox.
