Penn State fans longing to see their team play James Franklin will like ESPN’s latest bowl projections.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura has Penn State playing Virginia Tech in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Virginia Tech, of course, is Franklin’s first employer since Penn State fired him in October, and that would unquestionably be the main storyline.
But the other subplot is that Penn State will be facing a roster that features former 12 PSU players, with the most prominent one being QB Ethan Grunkemeyer. Former PSU tight end Luke Reynolds (449 yards, four touchdowns, 43 receptions) has been one of Tech’s best players as well.
Virginia Tech is on the cusp of bowl eligibility, having started the season 5-2.
For Penn State, bowl eligibility is in question.
PSU is a 3-4 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten. To make it to a bowl game, it must win three of its last five, against Purdue (home) Washington (away) Minnesota (home) Rutgers (home) and Maryland (away). The good news is that none of those teams are better than 4-2.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Franklin was Penn State’s coach for 11.5 seasons.
Franklin’s final record at Penn State was be 104-45, with one Big Ten Championship, one College Football Playoff appearance and no national titles.
What James Franklin’s legacy at Penn State is is subjective, there was certainly a lot of good regardless of the undoubtedly bitter way things ended up.
He is tied for the second-winnigest coach in school history with Rip Engle, and took over at a time when the program was still healing from the fallout of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
With that sad, Franklin’s 4-21 record against top 10 teams is something many fans will fairly point out as well.
