I have been a long-time James Franklin skeptic in that, while he was Penn State’s head coach, no matter how good the Nittany Lions were in any given year, I could go into Ohio State’s matchup with them
with a certain level of confidence.
I guess by that metric, a more accurate label for myself would be “James Franklin supporter.” Because even in Penn State’s best years, even in the closest of matchups between his team and the Buckeyes, Franklin had this incredibly consistent ability to blow the big games. The predictability was laughable.
In fact, in his entire tenure with Penn State, Franklin was 4-20 against Top 10 opponents, managing to beat the Buckeyes just one time (his 2016 win in Happy Valley, 24-21).
This Saturday, the Nittany Lions will enter the Shoe without James Franklin for the first time since 2013, and as someone who has gone on the record saying James Franklin is the Buckeyes’ biggest asset against PSU in any given season, I’m left to selfishly wonder what this means for Ohio State when they face off at the Shoe this Saturday.
For the first few games, this matchup looked to be a marquee weekend for both teams. For several weeks, Ohio State and Penn State held the top two spots in the rankings, and the Nits boasted a strong collection of talent on and off the field (including former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles).
Penn State had to face Oregon first, but the game in Columbus was expected to have Big Ten Championship ramifications.
Then things took a turn for then-No. 3 Penn State, with a double-overtime loss to No. 6 Oregon, which ended when the Ducks intercepted senior starting quarterback Drew Allar. All in, this was not the worst thing in the world (though it was another top-10 loss in Franklin’s record). It wasn’t until the next week that the train fully jumped the track, with two more losses in a row: one to UCLA (the Bruins’ only win this season), and one to Northwestern.
The Northwestern loss sealed the fates of both Franklin, who was promptly let go after the loss, and Allar, who sustained a season-ending ankle injury.
Terry Smith was named interim head coach, though he didn’t fare much better than Franklin, with Penn State losing its fourth consecutive game to Iowa this past weekend.
Suffice it to say the wheels have come off, and this is not the Penn State we thought we’d be facing at the start of the season.
But is that a good thing?
There is no doubt that Ohio State is the better team, especially with Allar’s injury. While Allar was, in my opinion, overhyped, he had experience and a chip on his shoulder where Ohio State was concerned (arguably, this worked against him, but perhaps with another year of experience, he could have harnessed it). Instead, the Buckeyes will face Ethan Grunkemeyer, a redshirt freshman with very little experience.
Against Iowa last week, Grunkenmeyer threw two interceptions, no touchdowns, and completed only 53.6% of his passes. Against Ohio State’s defense? It doesn’t look good for him.
There is certainly more of a disparity between OSU and Penn State this season than there has been in years past, with the top three teams in the country seemingly in a league of their own and Penn State, well, nowhere to be found in the Top 25.
Still, sometimes when you’ve got nothing, you’ve got nothing to lose.
The concern for this year is that Penn State might somehow view this game as the thing they have left to play for. They’ll face Ohio State this weekend, followed by No. 2 Indiana the week after, either of which could be a morale booster for a team that needs a win. The Buckeyes need to go out on the field with the same ferocity they would have come out with against a No. 2 team. In their quest to repeat their national title, there is no room for complacency. That means no looking past a team that, while down and out, still hates the Buckeyes’ guts.
Nothing would please Penn State more than ruining our day, even if it doesn’t ruin our season altogether.
The concern in the future is that without James Franklin, maybe the best Penn State teams won’t be so beatable. Franklin managed to get in his own way so consistently that you could almost bet on it as part of your game plan.
Without his blundering, this team enters the Shoe with a lot more unknowns for the Buckeyes to account for both this Saturday and in the seasons to come.
