Did James Franklin Take A Shot At Michigan Football?

Meeting with the media this week, Penn State head football coach James Franklin appeared to take a shot at Michigan's non-conference schedule.

If the Michigan Wolverines were looking for some additional motivation for their Week 10 matchup against Penn State, they may have just found it. 

Speaking with the media this week, Penn State head coach James Franklin reportedly singled out a specific team within the conference that is "buying out a ton of game contracts." He finished off his statement by saying, "you gotta do whatever you possibly can to give yourself a chance to go undefeated."

James Franklin on scheduling weak nonconference opponents:

"There's a team in this conference that's buying out a ton of game contracts to go in another direction."

He added that "you gotta do whatever you possibly can to give yourself a chance to be undefeated." pic.twitter.com/AGZBefVz3Z

— Joel Haas (@Joel_Haas1) October 10, 2023

This appears to be a veiled shot at the Wolverines. The relatively weak non-conference schedule has been a talking point for Michigan rivals all season long, and the fact that they bought their way out of a home and home deal with UCLA for games against Hawaii and ECU only added to the narrative that Franklin is peddling. 

Prior to the season ESPN's Chris Low listed Michigan as the team with the easiest non-conference schedule for the second year in a row. 

We have a repeat winner. For the second season in a row,

Michigan

has earned the "honor" of playing the nation's cushiest nonconference schedule. The two-time defending Big Ten champion doesn't face a single Power 5 opponent. This was also the case a year ago, marking the first time in 78 years the Wolverines didn't play a nonconference game against a current Power 5 member or Notre Dame. Michigan opens this season with three straight home games against

East Carolina

,

UNLV

and

Bowling Green

. It originally had a home-and-home series with

UCLA

set for 2022 and 2023, but canceled it in 2019 to guarantee at least seven home games each season.

The only team rivaling Michigan in this category is Georgia, which plays

UT Martin

,

Ball State

and

UAB

at home and closes the regular season against in-state rival

Georgia Tech

on the road. The Bulldogs were originally scheduled to play

Oklahoma

, but the SEC dictated that game be scrapped with the Sooners joining the league in 2024.

While Michigan faced ECU, UNLV and Bowling Green for its non-conference portion of the schedule, Penn State faced West Virginia, Delaware, and will face UMass this weekend. 

No. 2 Michigan will travel to Happy Valley to face No. 6 Penn State for a Week 10 matchup that is sure to have a massive impact on the eventual Big Ten champion and the College Football Playoff. The game kicks off on Nov. 11 at noon on FOX.