Until the Nittany Lions’ head coach proves otherwise, his abysmal track record against the Buckeyes will speak for itself.
Without rehashing the much-discussed issues against Nebraska, the Buckeyes need to take the field in Happy Valley looking like an entirely different team.
Offensive line issues abounded, hindering the Buckeyes’ powerful run game. Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson just didn’t have the room they needed to do their jobs. The usually consistent Will Howard was uncharacteristically sloppy.
The defense, while much improved over their performance against Oregon, got bogged down by unnecessary penalties (Davison Igbinosun, I’m talking to you. Knock it off with the pass interference). Even special teams got in on the action, with Jayden Fielding missing a 42-yard field goal.
Succinctly, the Buckeyes looked beatable, and Penn State typically plays us close, so I’m not expecting a huge margin of error.
Still, if I had to pinpoint which individual would play the most important role in beating Penn State, it’s none of the guys I mentioned above. The Buckeyes’ biggest asset isn’t their quarterback or any one of their star wide receivers or running backs. If they have an Achilles heel, there’s a good chance it will be canceled out on the other side of the field.
Because their biggest asset isn’t a Buckeye at all. It’s Nittany Lions’ head coach James Franklin.
Before the Penn State fans try to burn me at the stake for this, hear me out: When a program reaches the caliber of Penn State or Ohio State, coaches are judged as much by their success in high-stakes games as they are by their overall record.
I hold Ryan Day to this same standard. In fact, I sent a text today saying that if Ohio State can’t get the job done against Penn State, it might be time to re-evaluate his future with the Buckeyes. Ultimately, the number of Ws in the win column doesn’t matter if you can’t finish the job when it counts—especially at schools like Ohio State or Penn State where the fans have come to expect excellence.
With an overall record of 95-39 at Penn State, on paper, Franklin is exceptional.
But “on paper” doesn’t tell us the full story—because Franklin has historically struggled against ranked opponents, particularly top-10 opponents, and especially Ohio State. No matter how good the Nittany Lions look coming into the game against the Buckeyes, Franklin always seems to get in his own way.
His program always seems to be on the cusp of greatness. But what does Franklin have to show for it? A woeful 1-9 record — with seven consecutive losses — against the Buckeyes,
And to be fair, beating ranked teams is hard. While Day himself has a better record than Franklin against top 10 teams, OSU has lost three consecutive games to ranked opponents (last year’s loss to Michigan, their loss to Missouri in last season’s Cotton Bowl, and their one-point loss on the road to Oregon just a few weeks ago).
But there is something about Ohio State in particular that seems to be a thorn in Franklin’s side, even when we’re talking about a Penn State team that is really good.
They enter Saturday’s matchup as the No. 3 team in the country, with a 7-0 record, while the Buckeyes sit at No. 4 following the aforementioned loss to the Ducks. But who have the Nittany Lions played? Illinois? Not to mention, they struggled against a dud of a USC team (I know, I know: OSU vs. Nebraska. Pot, meet kettle).
It was just last year that Penn State came into the game against the Buckeyes with a 6-0 record and got a little too big for their breeches against another imperfect Ohio State team. So until Franklin can actually deliver on his end, you won’t exactly find me shaking in my boots.
Star quarterback Drew Allar (who is questionable for this weekend due to injury) went just 18-of-42. PSU converted just one of 16 third downs. The offense didn’t produce the way it needed to, and the defense did the football equivalent of yelling “Hey guys! Could you stop, please?” to OSU’s offense. They got outplayed by a Buckeye team that wasn’t even firing on all cylinders.
In large part, the responsibility for that falls on Franklin. His team couldn’t execute the small plays and didn’t deliver on the big ones. Despite it being a one-score game, Penn State couldn’t find the end zone until the fourth quarter.
Baffling play calls abounded. I’m talking “We’re down in the fourth quarter and the momentum gods have given us a gift. We’ve recovered a fumble from Ohio State, and now we get the ball on our own 48-yard-line. What excellent field position! You know what we should do? A TRICK PLAY FOR FUNSIES!”-bad. That play, for the record, resulted in a loss of yards, and I’m still scratching my head about it.
After the loss, Franklin didn’t really have answers for Penn State’s performance. And that’s part of his problem, in my opinion. You can’t win big games if you can’t learn from the losses. Losses are an opportunity to adjust, yet Franklin’s teams repeat the same mistakes year after year.
Now, against an Ohio State squad that looked less and less fearsome by the snap last weekend, Franklin has a chance to prove something has changed. If he can pull it off, I’ll deserve to eat crow for this column.
But until Franklin proves otherwise, I’m expecting more of the same from him: Poor execution of the fundamentals, questionable clock management, and mind-boggling play calls, with no answers for any of it.
So yes, Ohio State made mistakes against Oregon and again last weekend against Nebraska. Yes, they have to go on the road, and Happy Valley is a tough place to play. Yes, the Nittany Lions are a very good football team. But as long as James Franklin is calling the shots for Penn State, I’m putting my money on the Buckeyes.