James Franklin is having a banner week leading up to USC. He’s complaining about the length of the State College airport runway and now he’s looking for someone, anyone who will pat him on the back for starting another season 5-0 the last four years for the first time in program history. Lyle Alenstein at the Daily Collegian:
There have been less-than-desirable showings for Penn State this season, like the first half defensive effort against Bowling Green, only scoring seven points in the first quarter against Kent State and not completely dominating UCLA.
While there’s still plenty to clean up, having an undefeated record is nothing to gloss over, especially because of the current landscape of top teams falling to inferior opponents weekly.
“We’re the only school in the country to start 5-0 in each of the last four years, and it’s the first time that that’s happened in school history, so something we take a lot of pride in,” Franklin said Saturday.
“WILL SOMEONE PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PAT JAMES FRANKLIN ON THE BACK!?!?!” – James Franklin
Listen, you can call me a hater, but you can’t call me an unfair hater. I’m not going to crush James Franklin without at least digging in and doing some research to see which titans Penn State slayed over the past four seasons in those first five games.
2021:
- @ #12 Wisconsin
- Ball State
- #22 Auburn
- Villanova (FCS)
- Indiana
This was the last time I remember being actually nervous Penn State had a legit team. You see, when Temple is your college football program you find yourself rooting against Penn State harder than rooting for your team to win. Is it sad? Nope. It’s called sports. Look it up. That 2020 season when the Eagles went 4-12? I rooted way harder for the Cowboys to lose than I did for the Eagles to win and ruin their draft pick. I’ll now root hard as shit against the Mets for the rest of the playoffs, more than I’ll root for the Padres/Dodgers to win. That’s the sick, twisted mindset of a sports fan. PSU climbed all the way up to #4 before losing to Iowa (#3) the next week. They ended up finishing 7-6 that season. Auburn and Wisconsin, their two big wins, finished 6-7 and 9-4 and both outside the top-25. Fugazi wins? Sure seems like it.
2022:
- @ Purdue
- Ohio
- @ Auburn
- Central Michigan
- Northwestern
Zero ranked opponents in the first five games. That’s not a knock on Penn State, that’s a knock on college football scheduling in general. You’re rewarded more for beating up on cupcakes in the beginning of the season than playing a couple ranked teams. Still, this is the James Franklin playbook to a tee. He runs the D.E.N.N.I.S System perfectly. Midway through the season we hit both N’s. Nurturing Dependence before he then Neglects Emotionally when the team comes out flat against Central Michigan. Then they go out and decimate Northwestern and we’ve moved onto Inspiring Hope before heading to Ann Arbor or Columbus. This season it was Ann Arbor’s turn to Separate Entirely. Penn State made it all the way up to #10 after starting the season unranked. Game six was against #5 Michigan in Ann Arbor where they got their doors blown off 41-17. Season was over basically after that, but Penn State did the unthinkable and won the Rose Bowl. Utah’s QB left the game with a leg injury in the third quarter, but don’t let facts get in the way of a good story. Inspiring Hope was back! Big Game James! Big Game James!
2023:
- West Virginia
- Delaware (FCS)
- @ Illinois
- #24 Iowa
- @ Northwestern
With the #1 QB in the nation out of high school under center they actually started 6-0 before facing off against #3 Ohio State in Columbus. They lost 20-12 and again their season ended before Halloween. This was the epitome of a Penn State season. Good team that couldn’t beat the big guys. Played in another appetizer bowl that held people over until the CFP started in a couple days.
Which brings us to this season.
2024:
- @ West Virginia
- Bowling Green
- Kent State
- #19 Illinois
- UCLA
Two ranked opponents, both at home, in the last three seasons? Can you believe the Nits were able to survive the tumultuous environments of West Lafayette, Champaign, Evanston, and Morgantown? Extend him another decade!
Now they have USC this weekend in LA. Do Penn State fans even care about this game? If it was three weeks ago after they beat LSU to open up the season, sure. Since then they’ve played .500 ball. Is it a big game to the people up in Beaver? I honestly don’t even know what a big game is anymore in State College if we’re being honest. Penn State fans turned the Illinois game into an un-official White Out and they were almost 20 point favorites. The Lions are only favored by -4.5 on PA sports betting apps so maybe? I doubt PSU fans would admit this, but they know deep down nothing matters until November 2nd. That game against OSU is staring them in the face like it does every year. You win that you have cupcakes the rest of the way. Lets see if BGJ shows up!
Kinkead: Reminds me of the famous quote. “It’s not about how you finish, it’s about how you start.”
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