Why Penn State’s Path Feels Familiar to Notre Dame Football Fans

Under James Franklin the Nittany Lions look a lot like the Fighting Irish of a few years ago

Nov 2, 2024; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin walks on the field during a warmup prior to the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Beaver Stadium. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

During a Notre Dame off week the marquee game of the day was the Fox Big Noon Kickoff showdown between No. 3 Penn State and No. 4 Ohio State.

It was a game that had to have looked mighty familiar if you're a Notre Dame football fan.

Penn State looks like a team that will win at least 10 games, played hard and battled against an elite opponent on Saturday, but ultimately fell short.

Penn State Under James Franklin is Notre Dame Under Brian Kelly

There is a lot to be said about a team having a high floor and that's what Penn State has under Franklin. For what would be the sixth time since 2016, Penn State appears headed towards a 10-win season. It has established itself as one of the nation's most consistent teams and always a fringe threat to make the College Football Playoff.

The Nittany Lions are still very much alive in the expanded 12-team CFP era, but when they get there what's going to happen?

Saturday saw Penn State gifted just about every possible thing to finally knock off Ohio State for what would have been the first time since 2016. Instead it walks away with its first loss of the season and a resume that has a win over three-loss Illinois as its most impressive victory to date.

November 24, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly leads the team out the field before playing against the Southern California Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Brian Kelly took Notre Dame from an afterthought of a program to one of the nation's most impressive during his time in South Bend. Instead of three-loss regular seasons being the norm, Kelly made 10-win seasons a fair expectation for nearly every year during the back-half of his time with the Fighting Irish.

But his Notre Dame teams were never going to win a national championship in the College Football Playoff era. They could make the then four-team tournament but it'd be over about as quickly as it started for them once they arrived.

That's like Franklin at Penn State. He inherited an improving team from Bill O'Brien in 2014 and helped guide them to a Big Ten Championship in 2016. But since beating Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game that season, Nittany Lions fans have been waiting for that next big win.

Saturday wasn't the end of the year by any means for Penn State. With a favorable remaining schedule and seven wins already in the bag, a trip to the College Football Playoff still seems like almost a given.

But if Saturdays' Penn State loss to Ohio State told us anything, its that once the Nittany Lions get their they'll have about as good of chance to win the whole thing like Kelly's Fighting Irish squads did at Notre Dame.

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