Sooner or later, if you’re going to proclaim yourself a national title contender and an elite program, you have to be able to beat a top-notch program.
Unfortunately for James Franklin, he’s not been able to do that while head coach of Penn State.
That is not my opinion, that’s the bottom line and these are the facts.
โ James Franklin is 4-17 lifetime vs. Michigan and Ohio State, the two premier programs in the Big Ten.
โ Under Franklin, Penn State is 1-7 vs. Top 10 teams at home.
โ Penn State is 6-10 vs. ranked teams at home in the Franklin era.
โ James Franklin is 1-10 vs. Ohio State.
Hey, I get it, it’s not as though these dismal numbers have come against cupcakes.
But at the same time, if you want to continually proclaim yourself an elite program, you need to back that up and Franklin hasn’t been able to do that.
In my opinion, this was Penn State’s most disappointing loss to date against the Buckeyes because despite their $20 million payroll, this wasn’t the most talented Ohio State team of recent memory. I’m not saying Ohio State’s 2024 roster isn’t talented, just that it doesn’t compare to some of their most recent teams.
James Franklin
They didn’t have CJ Stroud or Justin Fields at quarterback, they had Will Howard. And with all due respect to Will, he wasn’t the most talented quarterback on the field today. However, because of the play-calling and lack of elite talent at wide receiver, Drew Allar wasn’t able to show that. Yeah, prior to today, some of Penn State’s wideouts were able to put up some numbers against inferior opponents but today against an elite secondary, those same receivers found out they aren’t good enough.
It’s not all on the wide receivers either as offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki should be second-guessed.
Four trips this afternoon in the redzone and the result was 0 touchdowns and 2 field goals. That’s awful and not what elite programs do.
The most head scratching drive was in the 4th quarter as Penn State drove inside the Ohio State 5-yard line and ran three straight plays up the middle before attempting a pass on 4th down. How about some creativity? How about targeting Tyler Warren, your best offensive weapon, somewhere on the first couple plays?
In the last 120-plus minutes against the Buckeyes, Penn State has been able to score just one touchdown. That’s mindboggling.
The harsh reality is that after losing this game in which they held a 10-0 lead at home, Penn State just isn’t on the same level as a football program as Ohio State. I also believe the same can be said when talking about Oregon. The jury is still out on Michigan because losing Jim Harbaugh is a huge loss and we’ll see if they’re able to replace him in terms of success.
With this being the case, regardless of where they’re ranked in the preseason polls and what bowl game they’re put in, under James Franklin, Penn State is never going to truly compete against Ohio State and Oregon. They’re going to be relegated as the 3rd, 4th or 5th best team in the Big 10. The reason I list 4th, and 5th is because if USC ever hires a real head coach, they’ll have the opportunity to jump in the conversation with Ohio State and Oregon.
With this brutal loss, Franklin is going to have to endure another season of criticism from the fan base and it’ll be justified.
I’m not saying that Franklin isn’t a good head coach because he certainly is. What I’m saying is that if year and year, you pull in a Top 10-15 recruiting class and you have the built-in home field advantage of 100,000 at every game and you fall short every time, you’re not a great or elite coach. You’re just good and that’s exactly what Franklin and the Penn State program currently are.
Tons of programs would die to have the yearly record that Penn State produces but Penn State fans aren’t satisfied and nor should they be. They’re savy enough to realize that most times that record is tainted because of the weak non-conference schedule and with most of the wins coming against the inferior Big 10 teams.
Penn State head coach James Franklin
Every year at this time, Franklin is rumored to be a candidate for a major head coaching opening that becomes available.
Up until this point nothing has materialized.
With this humbling loss and with the reality of where they stand in the Big 10 conference, you have to wonder if this could be the year that the Franklin rumors actually turn into reality.
At this point, I’m positive the Penn State fan base wouldn’t mind.
