A Milestone Win, and a New Chapter, Await Penn State's James Franklin in the Playoff

Franklin begins the College Football Playoff with a narrative to change for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin motions on the sidelines during the first quarter against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium. / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Sportswriters tend to anoint everything as the “start of a new chapter” or the ‘“game of the century.” In truth the vast majority of the time this isn’t the case. College football is too fluid and too dynamic for any single game to absolutely change the course of most programs. 

This big game is only the biggest until the next big game comes along. Penn State has won and lost games of consequence, and its place in the college football landscape is relatively unchanged. If anything, you could argue that despite losing big games, Penn State is in a better place than it has been for 95 percent of its history.

Look around the nation, and the story is the same. Michigan won a national title just last year and has plummeted back into something above average. Alabama has a new head coach and already seems mortal again. Ohio State is one of the most successful programs of the modern era and is perpetually in a state of existential crisis. What you did yesterday can help you tomorrow, but at some point, yesterday's events only reach so far into the future.

That said...

Penn State faces a unique reality in the next 12 months. It will head into the College Football Playoff with as favorable a path to the title game as any team. That doesn’t mean the Nittany Lions can’t or won’t lose, but it’s undeniable that any team in the bracket would take Penn State’s path.

With that comes expectations. Fair or not, the Nittany Lions have gone from enjoying the relief of finally making the postseason to knowing that losing before they get to the Georgia/Notre Dame/Indiana portion of the bracket will feel a little hollow. It downplays how good SMU and Boise State are, but where Penn State might face the likes of Ohio State, Oregon or Georgia knowing that it’s likely not the better team, that’s far less obvious against either horse in the early stages of the race.

The return of Drew Allar also amplifies what might be. Penn State stands to be a playoff contender for the foreseeable future, but Allar gives the Nittany Lions hope of a second legitimate title run next year.  

He will need help on both sides of the ball, but Allar is a cornerstone piece. And given the fact he very reasonably could have declared for the draft this offseason, his decision to return is a lifeline for Penn State’s otherwise uncertain 2025.

Then there’s Beaver Stadium. Saturday’s game marks the last in the stadium’s current form with the renovation process beginning almost as soon as the final score is taken off the scoreboard. It will mark the start of a multi-year process that will fundamentally change the iconic venue. The ramifications of this are more philosophical but also represent Penn State’s willingness to engage in the kind of competitive spending that will help it maintain relevance in an ever-changing landscape.

Lastly, there’s James Franklin. A win on Saturday would mark his 100th at Penn State and his 140th game with the program. Franklin needs only to reach 105 wins to pass Rip Engle for second all-time at Penn State. These are emotional checkpoints more than anything else. Still, it would be fitting if Franklin entered into a stretch of legitimate national title hopes at the onset of a round number.

It does make one curious about how long Franklin will stick around. He and athletic director Pat Kraft will both see their current contracts expire roughly around the same time in late 2031 and mid-2032. Set to turn 53 in February, Franklin isn’t old by real-world standards, but he isn’t getting any younger. SMU’s Rhett Lashlee, who coaches Penn State’s first-round opponent, is 41; Oregon’s Dan Lanning is 38. The longer Franklin stays at Penn State, the more likely it becomes that he ends his career in State College. In seven years, Franklin might be halfway to Joe Paterno’s 409 wins, although in no real danger of passing it.

“We're coming here with the mindset that we're going to build this program,” Franklin said during his introductory press conference back in 2014. “We're going to build it the right way, and we're going to build it for the long haul. We plan on being here for a very, very long time. This is my dream job. This is where I want to be. Wearing these colors, representing this state, representing these high school coaches and the people of the fine state of Pennsylvania is what I want to do for a very, very long time. Our plan is to go out and win a bunch of games so we can stay here.”

Ninety-nine down, how many more to go? Saturday’s game might not be the biggest game ever, and the next chapter might be similar to the last. But the game sure ain’t a small one, and whatever happens next sure will be new.

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Ben Jones has been covering Penn State athletics for 13 years, having been to countless home and road games for Nittany Lion sporting events spanning from the Rose Bowl to the NCAA Tournament. He's also the author of the book Happy Valley Hockey. You can read his work at https://benjonesonpennstate.substack.com and follow him on X (Twitter) at Ben_Jones88