Penn State Football Preview 2025: James Franklin is Better Than You Think - And His Nittany Lions Should Prove It
X CFN, Fiu | CFN Facebook | Bluesky Fiu, CFN Penn State Offense BreakdownPenn State Defense BreakdownSeason Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season Haven't we all learned from the last few years how silly it is to jump all over coaches who win a ton of games, but haven't won it all?Remember that Jim Harbaugh guy? Everyone forgets that he was super-close to being launched/leave for the NFL in 2020 after years of making Michigan very, very good. And then what happened?That. Forgetting how the sausage was allegedly made, 30-3 over his last three years, three College Football Playoff appearances, and a national title.
Ryan Day won an insane 80% of his games, but there was more than an insignificant chunk of the Ohio State base that put him on a flaming hot seat because he couldn't take the team to the next level. And then what happened?That. The Buckeyes won the national title, and no coach is even close to his current winning percentage of 87.5%.
And James Franklin can't win the big one.It's been a rough run against Ohio State and Michigan over the last few years. You know who else has had a hard time against those two since 2021? Everyone, including Day against the Wolverines.Franklin and Penn State have lost eight games over the last three seasons. The combined record of those eight was 102-12, and all finished with 11 or more wins.Take out the first year of 2014, when Penn State started the Franklin era under NCAA sanctions and was way-close to being hammered with some sort of coma penalty, and throw out the 2020 season that screwed up everyone, and 27 of 31 losses came to teams that won ten games or more.
But you're still not happy. You still don't care about the 2016 Big Ten Championship, or the 2023 Rose Bowl win, or the two playoff wins and CFP Semifinal appearance last season, or the 2019 Cotton Bowl win, or the 2017 Fiesta Bowl victory. Okay …Other than Franklin, how many coaches still around who started in 2014 or earlier have won at least 70% of their games?Dabo. That's it.
So I'll ask the same question I posed when everyone wanted Harbaugh sacked, and when Day was getting destroyed late last year. Who's this magical coach ready to step in and win more than 70% of his games over the next decade?(And unless your answer is Lane Kiffin, no, you don't have that guy.)But with all of that said, Harbaugh did come through and take Michigan to a whole other level. Day and his team were fueled by the screamy types and won a national title.
This year, Franklin has the team everyone will have to chase. He has the experience, the team, the schedule, and everything in place to do nothing less than get back to the Big Ten Championship, get back to the College Football Playoff, get back to the semifinals, and this year, play for the national title.So let's put it this way. The bar for Franklin isn't winning "the big one" after winning everything else. It's getting Penn State to The Big One in Miami Gardens on January 19th. Penn State Offense BreakdownPenn State Defense BreakdownSeason Prediction, Win Total, Keys to Season
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