Penn State coach James Franklin has reached a career milestone.
With Penn State’s win over Villanova Saturday afternoon, Franklin is now tied with Rip Engle for the second most wins in program history.
We all know who No. 1 on the list is.
Franklin now has 104 wins at Penn State, and has a big opportunity to pass Engle in two weeks when Mighty Oregon comes to Beaver Stadium.
That will be the first real test Penn State has of the 2025 season, since, frankly, Nevada, FIU and Villanova didn’t give the team much competition.
Considering Oregon is No. 4 in the country, yeah, this will be a test.
The last time Franklin achieved a similar career milestone was last December when he won his 100th game at Penn State.
That was also the team’s first College Football Playoff win, with Penn State’s demolishing SMU in the first round at Beaver Stadium.
“I appreciate you bringing up the 100 wins and all that kind of stuff,” Franklin said after the SMU game. “But to me, I’m at a point in my career it’s all about the players. It’s all about the players, the staff. It’s cool (cornerbacks coach) Terry Smith has been there for every single one of them. (Strength coach) Chuck Losey, every single one of them. So cool. (Chief of staff) Kevin Threlkel, (general manager) Andy Frank, every single one of them.”
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The man Franklin just tied, Rip Engle, is a forgetten, yet essential figure in Penn State history. Engle ran the program at Penn State from 1950-65, ending with a record of 132-68-8.
But his biggest contribution to Penn State is being the reason that Joe Paterno took over the program.
For those who don’t know the tale by now. Paterno was Engle’s quarterback at Brown University.
As the late Penn State historian Lou Prato explained (9:12), Paterno’s graduation coincided with Engle leaving Brown for Penn State. One of the conditions Penn State laid out for Engle was that he had to keep the whole staff.
Engle wanted to take one assistant, and when a few of his coaches declined, Engle decided to ask Paterno to give coaching a try.
The rest is history.
Franklin has a bit to go to surpass Paterno’s 409 wins, but he’s surely one of the best in the current profession.
Penn State’s next game is scheduled for 7:30 Sept. 28 against Oregon.
