What makes summer a great time for college football is you usually get to hear things you don’t get to hear during the season.
We all know Penn State coach James Franklin’s mantra of “1-0” every week. We often don’t hear Franklin comment on championship expectations because of the “1-0” mantra.
But summer opens up opportunities for Franklin to discuss the possibilities.
Franklin appeared on The Triple Option podcast presented by Wendy’s that is hosted by FOX’s Rob Stone, Mark Ingram, and Urban Meyer. Stone asked the question many Penn State fans wanted to ask Franklin.
“We can believe in your team up to a certain point, but how can you get Penn State over the hump?
Franklin didn’t waver in his response.
“You got to embrace that, right?” Franklin said. “I mean, that’s the nature of major college football.That’s part of being at a place like Penn State. “We finished fifth in the country last year and people are pissed, right? Like that’s what the Penn State job is about. You’ve got to embrace that.”
Franklin throughout his response to Stone’s question reflected on what he and his staff has accomplished in his first 11 seasons at Penn State. That includes two Big Ten Championship appearances and one win, seven New Year’s Six bowl appearances, the program’s first two College Football Playoff wins and six double-digit winning seasons.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished,” he said. “We’ve been as consistent as any program in the country.We’ve been as consistent at Penn State since joining the Big Ten. So I’m proud of all those things. But I also understand, fully embrace, that we’ve got to take that next step.”
Franklin emphasized that there’s a balancing act. Teams can’t over emphasize big games because that’s how they get upset by inferior opponents. Penn State hasn’t lost to a team since 2021 that has ended their season with less than ten wins.
Stone followed up about the national championship aspirations. Although Franklin didn’t fully jump in like he did about big game narrative, he entertained the thought.
“I think we got a tremendous opportunity to do some special things this year,” he said. “I know you don’t want me to do this, but I am excited about our opportunity. I’m looking up on the screen right now, Nevada is our opening game. People are going to say, well, that’s not a big game. Well, lose to Nevada and find out. So we’re focused on that. But I also am totally comfortable with talking about the things that we aspire to do as a team this year and as a season and for these players. To me, that’s the biggest thing I want these players to experience this. I want these players that have come back and made these sacrifices. To be a part of something special. And that’s why I wake up very early. That’s why I go to sleep late at night, trying to put these players in the best position to be successful and have a very, very special season this year at Penn State.”
