Scouting the enemy in 2021: Can Penn State get back on track under James Franklin?
It seems like yesterday that the Penn State Nittany Lions hired James Franklin away from a Vanderbilt program, but it wasn’t yesterday, it was seven years ago. Now I don’t want to dismiss everything Franklin did at Vanderbilt, after all, he did coach them to three straight bowl appearances and before he got there they never appeared in two consecutively. With that said, the Liberty Bowl and Music City Bowl aren’t exactly big money bowls.
James Franklin: *kicks field goal down 6 with 4 minutes left*
Kentucky: *runs the clock out*
James Franklin: pic.twitter.com/jqFu2Ggr6J— Patrick Barron (@BlueBarronPhoto) January 1, 2019
Moving on, Franklin was seen as a program builder and someone that could transform the Penn State program into a perennial competitor. This has not happened. Everyone thought the 2016 season was the turning point, Penn State won the Big Ten on their way to an 11-3 record and barely lost to an extremely talented USC team in the Rose Bowl.
They just ran out of time at the end of the James Franklin press conference because someone mismanged the clock.
— Tom Orr (@TomOrr4) July 22, 2021
The Nittany Lions have stayed in the upper echelon of the East Division since 2016 and they have competed with Ohio State, but have failed to earn a victory since that 2016 season. Now I know there is an asterisk next to the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 situation, but Penn State started the season 0-5 and this includes being dominated by both Maryland and Iowa. It finished strong with four straight victories, but that includes layup victories against Illinois and Rutgers.
Classic James Franklin clock management https://t.co/rSg4Yje1eP
— ACAB (@DFF_Blizzard) November 3, 2018
I am in no way saying James Franklin is a bad coach, but after steering the program to the worst start in school history, there has to be some level of heat on his seat. Franklin is also infamous for his poor clock management skills that are put on display weekly. Our friends over at BetMGM (Odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook.) currently have the win total line at 8.5 for Penn State, but this is a program that should expect ten wins each and every season.
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