Campbell has to pull a Franklin for Lions to be successful
What constitutes success for Matt Campbell this season?
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The irony is unmistakably delicious ... and comical, if we're being honest.
For Matt Campbell to be successful this season at Penn State, he has to pull a James Franklin. That's how low the bar is, at least for one year anyway.
Campbell and the Lions need to win the games they're supposed to win. That's pretty much it. If they do that, and even if they lose the games they're projected to lose, it still could be enough to go 10-2 and reach the College Football Playoff.
Looking at Penn State's tissue paper soft schedule this season, Campbell merely has to win the 10 games that his team will be favored in.
The Lions almost certainly will be underdogs at Michigan (the line is +6.5 in the preseason) and possibly at Washington (no early line yet), but they'll probably be favored in every other game. For the White Out against USC, Penn State is favored by 1½ points in preseason odds.
For years, Penn State fans griped about how Franklin would only beat the teams he was supposed to beat, and then "Big Game James" would falter against the better teams.
What none of us can know just yet is whether Campbell will prove capable of consistently beating the also rans on PSU's schedule. Yes, he did pull off some big upsets at Iowa State, but his Cyclone teams also found ways to lose when they were expected to win.
For instance, the Cyclones lost last year to an awful Colorado team that finished 3-9, they lost to Ohio in 2023 and to FCS Northern Iowa during Campbell's first season in 2016.
If Franklin would have lost any of those types of games, many Penn State fans would have wanted him fired immediately.
Make no mistake, Campbell is under far more pressure now at PSU than he ever was at Iowa State. Sure, the Cyclones made headlines when they pulled off some upsets, but Campbell no doubt was shielded from the sting of bad losses while coaching at a program where expectations were never all that high in the first place.
For as much as we all got tired of Franklin's incessant mentions of his 1-0 mentality -- and that included the players -- he did do a great job for most of his tenure of having the team ready to play week in and week out against lesser competition.
Will Campbell be able to do that, as well? Maybe, but don't count those chickens until they're hatched.
So, Penn State can lose at Michigan and even lose at Washington. But if the Lions win the other 10 games that they'll be favored in, Campbell's season will be considered a success.
Could we have said the same if Franklin were to go 10-2 but lost two big games this year at PSU? That would be a no for many fans.
For the record, I've got Penn State going 9-3 and missing the playoff this season. That wouldn't have been good enough under Franklin to be considered a success, so I don't believe it should be under Campbell, either.
Cory Giger hosts the Blue & White Wrapup postgame show following each PSU game on 107.1 JACK-FM.