OT: D1

[IUPNation]

Great game. I actually feel sympathy for Franklin today, never thought I’d say that. This one has to sting. Allar was really bad. I guess if you feel the need to pin this on James you could say he put too much trust in him at the end.

Marcus Freeman is one his way to being an elite coach, he’s already pretty close. To lose your home opener to Northern Illinois and wind up where they are is pretty remarkable.

You could see the difference between them when they were interviewed at half..was much more impressed with Freeman, he came off like he has his **** together and Franklin still has that East Dennyburg we’re just happy to be here mentality. It why I went to bed.. no need to stay up and
lose sleep when you could see his crash coming.

[IUPNation]

I almost want The Overrated State University to win it all now because even in victory all everyone will talk about is they still lost to Meatchicken and it will drive them absolutely bat**** crazy. That would be fun.

[Chuck Norris]

You could see the difference between them when they were interviewed at half..was much more impressed with Freeman, he came off like he has his **** together and Franklin still has that East Dennyburg we’re just happy to be here mentality. It why I went to bed.. no need to stay up and
lose sleep when you could see his crash coming.

There really was no crash. It was a really good game between two evenly matched teams. Allar just made the crushing mistake at the end.

[Chuck Norris]

I almost want The Overrated State University to win it all now because even in victory all everyone will talk about is they still lost to Meatchicken and it will drive them absolutely bat**** crazy. That would be fun.

And they can still want Ryan Day fired.

[IUP24]

And they can still want Ryan Day fired.

It's funny how all those people are now trying to downplay or devalue "The Game." It's borderline comical. It was all that mattered.

[ESU Warrior]

There really was no crash. It was a really good game between two evenly matched teams. Allar just made the crushing mistake at the end.

I agree. It was a great game. I don't understand the "Franklin blows it" comments all the time. 99 percent of FBS programs would love what PSU has. He averages 10 wins a year, rose bowls, cotton bowls, fiesta bowls,,; all doing it with worse factilites and NIL than OSU and Michigan. I get what the record is vs top 5 teams, but my question is when has PSU ever been a consistent national contender? Once every 20 years or so. JoePa never consistently beat OSU either. In fairness, I think PSU has actually gotten better the last few years, and now with their NIL getting close to that of those big time big ten schools I think they are now in position to become that national contender. Just my opinion.

BTW, the players LOVE him. I don't think he has the "happy to be here" mentality. I think his personality is fitting for today's athlete, as well is Marcus Freeman. Both can have different styles, but yet be effective. The old saying; theres more than one way to skin a cat.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

There really was no crash. It was a really good game between two evenly matched teams. Allar just made the crushing mistake at the end.

Allar's not a killer.

I don't watch JoePa very often. When I do, it jumps off the page at me.

He looked terrified last night in the 4th quarter.

I don't know what his NFL stock is but I wouldn't touch him with a high pick.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I agree. It was a great game. I don't understand the "Franklin blows it" comments all the time. 99 percent of FBS programs would love what PSU has. He averages 10 wins a year, rose bowls, cotton bowls, fiesta bowls,,; all doing it with worse factilites and NIL than OSU and Michigan. I get what the record is vs top 5 teams, but my question is when has PSU ever been a consistent national contender? Once every 20 years or so. JoePa never consistently beat OSU either. In fairness, I think PSU has actually gotten better the last few years, and now with their NIL getting close to that of those big time big ten schools I think they are now in position to become that national contender. Just my opinion.

BTW, the players LOVE him. I don't think he has the "happy to be here" mentality. I think his personality is fitting for today's athlete, as well is Marcus Freeman. Both can have different styles, but yet be effective. The old saying; theres more than one way to skin a cat.

Franklin is a good head coach. No question.

However - and, it's a giant 'however' - you can't be 1-18 against Top 5 teams (if you want to be perceived as a Top 5 program). That reads 'pretender' and not 'contender'.

They were close last night. Getting close, unfortunately, is the norm under JF. Don't get me wrong, as you said, about 98% of college football programs would die to 'get close'.

[Fightingscot82]

I watched the game and I don't watch many Penn State games. I have no interest in Notre Dame despite growing up Catholic. Their helmets give me the same itch like tinsel does to Frank Costanza.

Penn State has no passing game. They haven't had a great QB in a long time. Yeah some have gone on to the NFL but they weren't great college QBs. I think this is one of the reasons Penn State has had a revolving door of OCs under Franklin. Franklin and whoever his OC will be need to identify a system and recruit around it. Screw the NFL draft. Allar just isn't a great QB by any measure.

[IUP24]

Franklin is a good head coach. No question.

However - and, it's a giant 'however' - you can't be 1-18 against Top 5 teams (if you want to be perceived as a Top 5 program). That reads 'pretender' and not 'contender'.

They were close last night. Getting close, unfortunately, is the norm under JF. Don't get me wrong, as you said, about 98% of college football programs would die to 'get close'.

They aren't ever going to get closer than that. They'll never get that type of a draw again. They'll never have the planets line up like that again. That was their shot. They'll be in the playoff probably every year because they beat everyone they are supposed to beat and have the name recognition to earn additional chances within the realm of public perception and the selection committee.

But that was their shot.

[Ship69]

I watched the game and I don't watch many Penn State games. I have no interest in Notre Dame despite growing up Catholic. Their helmets give me the same itch like tinsel does to Frank Costanza.

Penn State has no passing game. They haven't had a great QB in a long time. Yeah some have gone on to the NFL but they weren't great college QBs. I think this is one of the reasons Penn State has had a revolving door of OCs under Franklin. Franklin and whoever his OC will be need to identify a system and recruit around it. Screw the NFL draft. Allar just isn't a great QB by any measure.

So Allar makes a couple of bad throws and a DB slips and gives ND an easy score. Basically, that lost the game. I don't see how that's on Franklin. Allar was heavily recruited coming out of HS and has been erratic. They lost Pribula to the portal, and nobody else is far enough along to play, so Allar is what they have. Biggest problem has been their inability for some reason to get wideouts up there the past couple of years. Would Will Howard do as well at Penn State as he does with Ohio State's receivers? Doubtful. They need some better recruiting there.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

They aren't ever going to get closer than that. They'll never get that type of a draw again. They'll never have the planets line up like that again. That was their shot. They'll be in the playoff probably every year because they beat everyone they are supposed to beat and have the name recognition to earn additional chances within the realm of public perception and the selection committee.

But that was their shot.

They had to win last night. Notre Dame (most don't realize) is extremely beat up - especially on defense. They have some serious dawgs out for the season, backups playing all over, etc.

I get all teams are beat up -- especially these teams whored out for an NFL season at this point -- but the Irish have overcome extreme losses.

PSU has to just be sick this morning.

[Ship69]

They aren't ever going to get closer than that. They'll never get that type of a draw again. They'll never have the planets line up like that again. That was their shot. They'll be in the playoff probably every year because they beat everyone they are supposed to beat and have the name recognition to earn additional chances within the realm of public perception and the selection committee.

But that was their shot.

"Aren't ever" is a long time. I saw Northwestern reach a Rose Bowl after consistently being one of the worst teams in college football for 25 years. And that was before the transfer portal. So maybe, maybe not. That was a good college football game last night, but a lot of folks won't be able to enjoy it because that might interfere with the "Franklin is a bum" narrative. And I'm so tired of reading the gushing write-ups about Notre Dame. You'd think they were some sort of tiny underdogs who attended the covenant of the Little Sisters of the Poor when in reality they're a national program with more money than God. I do respect Freeman — clever coach and class act.

[iupgroundhog]

There really was no crash. It was a really good game between two evenly matched teams. Allar just made the crushing mistake at the end.

The INT at the end sealed the game but really PSU was in desperation mode at that point. They had to cover about 50 yds. in a couple of plays to get into FG range. Obviously, Allar was off target the whole game. The pass to Singleton in the endzone at the end of the 2nd quarter hurt. And as Ship 69 mentioned, the PSU DB slipping resulted in the ND TD.

It was a game decided by the way the ball bounces. It didn't bounce PSU's way last night. I am also wondering what the impact of having Pribula involved would have been. Clearly, the verdict gives the Penn State critics something bad to say.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

So Allar makes a couple of bad throws and a DB slips and gives ND an easy score. Basically, that lost the game. I don't see how that's on Franklin. Allar was heavily recruited coming out of HS and has been erratic. They lost Pribula to the portal, and nobody else is far enough along to play, so Allar is what they have. Biggest problem has been their inability for some reason to get wideouts up there the past couple of years. Would Will Howard do as well at Penn State as he does with Ohio State's receivers? Doubtful. They need some better recruiting there.

I don't know if they have good WRs or not. Allar seems to only ever look for Warren.

Franklin's not dumpster diving when he's recruiting so I have to assume they have quality WRs up there.

As for the heat Franklin is getting (and to be clear he his getting decimated on social media and sports radio) ... that comes with the territory. In fact, it's what he's actually best known for now. His record against elite competition is completely dreadful. It's just odd his record is THAT bad on the big stage. It cannot be coincidental at this point. You lose some games, yes, with bad bounces. You don't go 1-18 on bad bounces.