UNIVERSITY PARK– Overall, Penn State football coach James Franklin didn’t have much to be upset about over the team’s 46-11 season-opening win over Nevada at Beaver Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The game was what the score said it was: A whooping.
Franklin obviously was much more diplomatic than that in his first postgame presser of the 2025 season, but he didn’t have much negative to say.
Penn State knows it should blow away its first three opponents, and it just took care of step one. Now, it’s onto Florida International.
WHAT FRANKLIN SAID
“Overall, I was pleased. I thought we came out and played the way we were supposed to play. Obviously, we have a ton of things that we still need to get cleaned up. The reps that we were able to get late in the game for our twos and threes, I think, will be very valuable. It obviously was not perfect, but it will serve us well as the season goes on and allow those guys to get off ot it, too. But overall, I thought we played the way we were supposed to play.”
WHAT WENT WRONG
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
There wasn’t too much negative to say about the win, but there’s always something that goes wrong.
For Penn State, the most obvious thing on this day was the red zone offense.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Although kicker Ryan Barker made all four of his field goals, those were drives that could have been touchdowns, and Franklin understands that.
“We have to finish some drives on offense and not end with field goals,” he said. “Although I think the field goal work, there’s a blessing in disguise there. The field goal work was good for us, too.”
This certainly won’t cost Penn State against a team like Nevada.
A game against a team like Ohio State might be– and has been– a different story.
Last season, Penn State lost to Ohio State by seven points at Beaver Stadium and failed to score a touchdown despite three red-zone trips.
We can all do the math on that one.
Nonetheless, Penn State is unbeaten and will look to stay unbeaten next Saturday, Sept. 6, against Florida International. Kickoff is scheduled for noon on the Big Ten Network.
