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Has this been James Franklin’s best coaching job? 2016 championship season still must rank at the top

As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend.” I’m going with 2016, at least for now. That could potentially change this year with a win Saturday night in the Big Ten championship game over No. 1 Oregon and if the Nittany Lions advance in the College Football Playoffs. All of that is still on the table for James Franklin. While he’s done a very nice job this year, building on his weaknesses of the past and not allowing a loss to Ohio State to carry over and beat the Lions in consecutive weeks, I’m not ready to put this coaching job in front of the one he did in 2016 ...

Has this been James Franklin’s best coaching job? Franklin looking like a coach you can trust in big games

What we saw at Minnesota a few weeks ago was a coaching clinic by James Franklin, who looked like a genius pulling one correct string after another with a fake punt and other gutsy calls to secure a victory. Given the recency bias, one could harp heavily on that game as a basis for saying this season has been Franklin’s best coaching job at Penn State. But during the Lions’ only loss, Franklin committed coaching malpractice with some of the most pathetic playcalling I’ve ever seen inside the 5-yard line trying to tie against Ohio State. Maybe all that was Andy Kotelnicki’s ...

Lions poised for playoff success

UNIVERSITY PARK — Don’t look now, but Penn State has as much right to think it can win the national championship as anybody. In a year without a true dominating team, the Nittany Lions just keep chugging along and are now the No. 3 ranked team in the country, behind Oregon and ...

PSU playing like it’s on a mission

When it comes to evaluating the Nittany Lions, not this year but also previously under James Franklin, many across the country — myself included — have a tendency to point to what isn’t. That, of course, is tied to the Ohio State albatross. There’s no escaping that narrative, at least until it changes, but this season is providing another positive example of what is. With the clock nearing midnight on the regular season, and just two games left, Penn State stands at a sturdy 9-1, ranked No. 4 in the country and has at least matched expectations so far for 2024. The ...

Name the position group you’ve been impressed with the most.

For the record, I’m not the biggest Drew Allar fan. Still think he’s overrated, and still question how effective he’ll ever be in the NFL. But I want to give credit where credit is due, and to that end, I’ve been much more impressed by the quarterback this season. Furthermore, since we’re talking about a position group here and not just one guy, I also have been much more impressed by backup Beau Pribula. The first thing that jumps off the page when looking at Allar’s development is completion percentage. He’s at 70.3 percent, up significantly from last year’s figure ...

So many 2-win teams in the NFL to choose from

Nine NFL teams have nearly no chance nine weeks into the season. The Patriots, Raiders, Jaguars, Browns, Giants, Saints and Panthers are 2-7. The Dolphins and Titans are 2-6. On the opposite side, 11 teams have at least six wins. So much for parity. The league’s goal has always been to have every team stay in contention for as long as possible. But 28.1% of the teams — more than a quarter of the league — will likely spend the second half battling for draft positioning. Maybe Miami still has a chance to stage a turnaround because Tua Tagovailoa is back and playing well. ...