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James Franklin has again been exposed and it's getting boring.

marisa45

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Feb 2, 2007
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The magic of a place like Penn State is that we know what winners look like. We understand what it takes to make championship caliber teams and individuals. In fact, we strive to that end. It's ingrained in our culture. We lead the country in Fortune 500 CEOs. We've witnessed countless all-Americans (both academic and athletic), and we understand when an individual or group does not measure up.

We've sort of known this about James Franklin for a while now, and we've been at best "slow to react", and at worse negligent, to what we've seen. I'll probably take some push back on this but the word I would most associate with James Franklin now is "politician". I'm sorry if some of you think that's harsh but that's my opinion. At least he graduated from used car salesman.

There is a new age dawning or perhaps being reborn. Let's call it a resurgence of American exceptionalism. The "managed decline" peddlers of the past are waning. We have an opportunity to embrace our roots and reject the marginalized expectations of dying ideologies.

James Franklin has not embraced the full tradition of Penn State. In fact, he appears to be capitalizing on its "managed" decline. At a minimum, he doesn't seem to properly motivate the young people under his care or demonstrate our principles. At worst he neglects the basic principles of graduation rates, academic exceptionalism and high achieving academic standards. He's had too many scandals, excuses, historic and record failures and time and time again has failed to establish the requisite mental toughness in those under his care. It's not that he loses, it's that he seems to have abandoned the principles that once made us great.

He also happens to be the complete polar opposite of our past leader, JVP. He's a terrible game day, X&O Coach. It is apparent its not something he can learn and what is more problematic is that he doesn't seem interested in what made us successful in the first place which is really unforgivable. His inclinations seem to be the opposite of our culture and cannot continue. Plain and simple.
 
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Give me a break. Franklin does a good job. Some of our 1960s to 1980s teams would probably not have have done as well if they had to play Michigan and Ohio State every year.

Heck, we lost to Nebraska at home in 1982 if replay is in place. We got a lot of home cooking back then. We probably weren't beating them at the end of the year if a playoff was in place. SMU was 11-0-1 and might have beaten us as well.

Our 1986 team in addition to Miami finished ahead of 1-loss Oklahoma. Do we beat them in a playoff? I doubt it. Joe couldn't beat Bear or Barry Switzer.

I'm glad we have our mythical national championships to fall back on. But it's a fine line. Did Joe become a worse coach after 1986? Or did his competition level increase? He had one unbeaten season and one 11-1 season after that.

Our talent composite was far less than ND's, but we were right there and have a good shot at being back in the playoff next year.

If you're firing Franklin who ya got to replace him? Cause he better be a sure bet. The Fortune 500 thing means little. We have enough alumni we're bound to have some CEOs . It doesn't take many to lead the list. We don't lead the country. We trail Stanford.. How many billionaire alumni do we have? Not enough for this new age of college football.
 
The problem with a place like Penn State is that we know what winners look like, we understand what it takes to make championship caliber teams and individuals. It's ingrained in our culture. We lead the county in Fortune 500 CEOs, we've seen countless all-Americans both academic and athletic and we understand when an individual or group does not measure up. We've known this about James Franklin for a while now and we've been negligent in response to what we've seen.

There is a new age dawning, a resurgence of American exceptionalism. The progressive "managed decline" peddlers of the past have been rebuked. It's time to embrace the University's roots and reject the marginalized expectations of a dying ideology. James Frankling did not embrace the tradition of Penn State, he capitalized on it's "managed" decline. He no longer represents a group of young people which hold our principles dear including our most basic principles of graduation rates, academic exceptionalism and high achieving academic athletics. He's had scandals, excuses, historic and record failures and time and time again produced examples of teams devoid of mental toughness. It's not that he loses, it's that he has abandoned the principles that once made us great.

He's also a lousy game day coach. All that said, FIRE HIM!!
It’s time! Well beyond time!
Give me a break. Franklin does a good job. Some of our 1960s to 1980s teams would probably not have have done as well if they had to play Michigan and Ohio State every year.

Heck, we lost to Nebraska at home in 1982 if replay is in place. We got a lot of home cooking back then. We probably weren't beating them at the end of the year if a playoff was in place. SMU was 11-0-1 and might have beaten us as well.

Our 1986 team in addition to Miami finished ahead of 1-loss Oklahoma. Do we beat them in a playoff? I doubt it. Joe couldn't beat Bear or Barry Switzer.

I'm glad we have our mythical national championships to fall back on. But it's a fine line. Did Joe become a worse coach after 1986? Or did his competition level increase? He had one unbeaten season and one 11-1 season after that.

Our talent composite was far less than ND's, but we were right there and have a good shot at being back in the playoff next year.

If you're firing Franklin who ya got to replace him? Cause he better be a sure bet. The Fortune 500 thing means little. We have enough alumni we're bound to have some CEOs . It doesn't take many to lead the list. We don't lead the country. We trail Stanford.. How many billionaire alumni do we have? Not enough for this new age of college footbal
So just keep in place out of fear.

Joe’s bowl record is #1. Comparing him to Franklin is a joke. Do you even watch the games. Do you comprehend why we lose almost 95 % of our big games?

Marisa is correct.

Joe played Ohio State a few times back in 70s and 80. Took #1 Ranked O$U to woodshed ON THE ROAD. Did same on Fiesta Bowl. Even beat them on road in 2000s when he was past his prime. Either our back-up QB!

Where is Frankin’s equivalent win?

Joe has dozens of them. Frankin? Not a single one.

Don’t peddle such nonsense.
 
Give me a break. Franklin does a good job. Some of our 1960s to 1980s teams would probably not have have done as well if they had to play Michigan and Ohio State every year.

Heck, we lost to Nebraska at home in 1982 if replay is in place. We got a lot of home cooking back then. We probably weren't beating them at the end of the year if a playoff was in place. SMU was 11-0-1 and might have beaten us as well.

Our 1986 team in addition to Miami finished ahead of 1-loss Oklahoma. Do we beat them in a playoff? I doubt it. Joe couldn't beat Bear or Barry Switzer.

I'm glad we have our mythical national championships to fall back on. But it's a fine line. Did Joe become a worse coach after 1986? Or did his competition level increase? He had one unbeaten season and one 11-1 season after that.

Our talent composite was far less than ND's, but we were right there and have a good shot at being back in the playoff next year.

If you're firing Franklin who ya got to replace him? Cause he better be a sure bet. The Fortune 500 thing means little. We have enough alumni we're bound to have some CEOs . It doesn't take many to lead the list. We don't lead the country. We trail Stanford.. How many billionaire alumni do we have? Not enough for this new age of college football.
Matt Rhule? Nick Saban? Urban Meyer? How about Bill Belichick? I mean,... how bad do you want it???

I'll give you a break because but you obviously don't dream big enough or have expectations higher than "existence". Our graduation rates are in the bottom tier now not only of our conference but of the nation overall. How did that happen?? 1 and 19 in big games is embarassing. I could care less about top 10, top 8 top 4 etc, it doesn't matter. He was outcoached once again in a big spot. He had a superior team. He's not head CEO of the football team or head Communications Director of the athletic program.... he's the head coach. He's a good recruiter and a terrible game day coach and it is beyond possible that it will ever change.
 
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Give me a break. Franklin does a good job. Some of our 1960s to 1980s teams would probably not have have done as well if they had to play Michigan and Ohio State every year.

Heck, we lost to Nebraska at home in 1982 if replay is in place. We got a lot of home cooking back then. We probably weren't beating them at the end of the year if a playoff was in place. SMU was 11-0-1 and might have beaten us as well.

Our 1986 team in addition to Miami finished ahead of 1-loss Oklahoma. Do we beat them in a playoff? I doubt it. Joe couldn't beat Bear or Barry Switzer.

I'm glad we have our mythical national championships to fall back on. But it's a fine line. Did Joe become a worse coach after 1986? Or did his competition level increase? He had one unbeaten season and one 11-1 season after that.

Our talent composite was far less than ND's, but we were right there and have a good shot at being back in the playoff next year.

If you're firing Franklin who ya got to replace him? Cause he better be a sure bet. The Fortune 500 thing means little. We have enough alumni we're bound to have some CEOs . It doesn't take many to lead the list. We don't lead the country. We trail Stanford.. How many billionaire alumni do we have? Not enough for this new age of college football.
Franklin cannot win the big games that we need him to. Plain and simple. Absolute fact. It really is a nightmare as a loyal longtime fan. It's like every big game for Franklin is reliving the '79 Sugar Bowl. Joe learned from that game and had huge success after that. Franklin is stuck in perpetuity with every big game playing out like that awful '79 Sugar Bowl, just the same bad movie with different yet all terrible endings.
 
Look at Paterno's record in big games since joining the Big Ten.

He beat 2 top-5 opponents in this ENTIRE Big Ten tenure -- and they were both overrated. Michigan in 1994, and a shit Arizona team in 1999.

We romanticize the past a bit too much here.

Now......joe gets the benefit of the doubt given his record in big games BEFORE coming to the Big Ten. But Penn State football after that '94 season was a clear step down from the elite. James Franklin is merely continuing that.
 
It’s time! Well beyond time!

So just keep in place out of fear.

Joe’s bowl record is #1. Comparing him to Franklin is a joke. Do you even watch the games. Do you comprehend why we lose almost 95 % of our big games?

Marisa is correct.

Joe played Ohio State a few times back in 70s and 80. Took #1 Ranked O$U to woodshed ON THE ROAD. Did same on Fiesta Bowl. Even beat them on road in 2000s when he was past his prime. Either our back-up QB!

Where is Frankin’s equivalent win?

Joe has dozens of them. Frankin? Not a single one.

Don’t peddle such nonsense.
How many years did Paterno coach? How long did it take him to win his first Natty playing a far less demanding schedule than what Penn State plays now? Try 17. How many Nattys did Paterno win after Penn State joined the Big? Try zero. He also didn’t inherit a team decimated by sanctions like Franklin did. I almost fell off my chair laughing while reading some clowns post claiming that his HIGH SCHOOL COACH friend counted TWENTY SIX bad coaching decisions during the game. If his decision making truly was that poor ND would have been blowing Penn State off the field. One thing this board has retired the cup on without any debate is the most whining after a tough loss because after all YOU DESERVE BETTER.
 
Matt Rhule? Nick Saban? Urban Meyer? How about Bill Belichick? I mean,... how bad do you want it???

I'll give you a break because but you obviously don't dream big enough or have expectations higher than "existence". Our graduation rates are in the bottom tier now not only of our conference but of the nation overall. How did that happen?? 1 and 19 in big games is embarassing. I could care less about top 10, top 8 top 4 etc, it doesn't matter. He was outcoached once again in a big spot. He had a superior team. He's not head CEO of the football team or head Communications Director of the athletic program.... he's the head coach. He's a good recruiter and a terrible game day coach and it is beyond possible that it will ever change.
Please provide specifics on how he was out coached. I guess it was Franklin’s fault that a DB fell down thus allowing a ND receiver to score on a long pass play after Penn State went up by 7 with just under 8 minutes to play. Lots of criticism about the decision to try to get into position to try a game winning FG by throwing but the team wasn’t getting into FG position just running the ball and as badly as he played most of the night Allar was throwing much better in the second half before the pick.
 
How many years did Paterno coach? How long did it take him to win his first Natty playing a far less demanding schedule than what Penn State plays now? Try 17. How many Nattys did Paterno win after Penn State joined the Big? Try zero. He also didn’t inherit a team decimated by sanctions like Franklin did. I almost fell off my chair laughing while reading some clowns post claiming that his HIGH SCHOOL COACH friend counted TWENTY SIX bad coaching decisions during the game. If his decision making truly was that poor ND would have been blowing Penn State off the field. One thing this board has retired the cup on without any debate is the most whining after a tough loss because after all YOU DESERVE BETTER.
It is one of the most tiresome things about this board. Lots of my friends are WVU fans. They finally fired Neal Brown. Among those they were interested in hiring was Kotelnicki. They ended up with Rich Rodriguez, for the second time around. RichRod went to Michigan, as you may recall. He eventually worked his way "up" to Jacksonville State. Now he is back at WVU, newly popular in his 2d go-round. That popularity is gonna last approximately until his 1st 3-and-out next fall. Then all the toolbags will be trashing the guy whose predecessor they insisted be fired. "Tiresome" is wholly inadequate to describe this "genius fan" dynamic.
 
I am upset with the outcome of the game as well and place plenty of blame on Franklin and Allar, but I find the above message to be nonsensical. Franklin arrived during death penalty level sanctions and has gotten the program up to the mean that it has finished in our post independence, conference era.. To say that it’s in managed decline is ridiculous. The reference to the greatness of our fortune 500 CEO base is even worse, as they’re not producing NIL contributions at the level of CEO alums from OSU, Michigan, Oregon, Notre Dame, etc. While the WR coach probably has to go, we don’t have the NIL to pay for Singleton, Allar, Carter, Warren, and an elite wr. OSU has the ability to pay for those players and 4 elite WR’s on top of that. That is the unfortunate reality. Yes, we should’ve won that game last night, but OSU was going to hammer us in the championship game.
 
The magic of a place like Penn State is that we know what winners look like. We understand what it takes to make championship caliber teams and individuals. In fact, we strive to that end. It's ingrained in our culture. We lead the country in Fortune 500 CEOs. We've witnessed countless all-Americans (both academic and athletic), and we understand when an individual or group does not measure up.

We've sort of known this about James Franklin for a while now, and we've been at best "slow to react", and at worse negligent, to what we've seen. I'll probably take some push back on this but the word I would most associate with James Franklin now is "politician". I'm sorry if some of you think that's harsh but that's my opinion. At least he graduated from used car salesman.

There is a new age dawning or perhaps being reborn. Let's call it a resurgence of American exceptionalism. The "managed decline" peddlers of the past are waning. We have an opportunity to embrace our roots and reject the marginalized expectations of dying ideologies.

James Franklin has not embraced the full tradition of Penn State. In fact, he appears to be capitalizing on its "managed" decline. At a minimum, he doesn't seem to properly motivate the young people under his care or demonstrate our principles. At worst he neglects the basic principles of graduation rates, academic exceptionalism and high achieving academic standards. He's had too many scandals, excuses, historic and record failures and time and time again has failed to establish the requisite mental toughness in those under his care. It's not that he loses, it's that he seems to have abandoned the principles that once made us great.

He also happens to be the complete polar opposite of our past leader, JVP. He's a terrible game day, X&O Coach. It is apparent its not something he can learn and what is more problematic is that he doesn't seem interested in what made us successful in the first place which is really unforgivable. His inclinations seem to be the opposite of our culture and cannot continue. Plain and simple.
Troll much.
 
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How many years did Paterno coach? How long did it take him to win his first Natty playing a far less demanding schedule than what Penn State plays now? Try 17. How many Nattys did Paterno win after Penn State joined the Big? Try zero. He also didn’t inherit a team decimated by sanctions like Franklin did. I almost fell off my chair laughing while reading some clowns post claiming that his HIGH SCHOOL COACH friend counted TWENTY SIX bad coaching decisions during the game. If his decision making truly was that poor ND would have been blowing Penn State off the field. One thing this board has retired the cup on without any debate is the most whining after a tough loss because after all YOU DESERVE BETTER.
Joe was undefeated and untied multiple times. He did everything he could do but be VOTED championships. Beat the biggest and best programs on the biggest stages multiple times. When he was at his best, the schedule was its toughest - toughest in nation (much tougher than any Big10 schedule), in fact.

He won big games all over the place…at home, ON THE ROAD (including against teams rated #1), at top tier bowls:

Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, USC, Nebraska, Miami FLA, Pitt (when they were an annual Top 10 team or better), LSU, Alabama.

Franklin is good at his job and has garnered some good results - but not at a top tier level that a blue blood program like Penn State has been used and has the potential.

Paterno was one of the best coaches of all-time and has the record in the biggest games to back it up.
 
Joe was undefeated and untied multiple times. He did everything he could do but be VOTED championships. Beat the biggest and best programs on the biggest stages multiple times. When he was at his best, the schedule was its toughest - toughest in nation (much tougher than any Big10 schedule), in fact.

He won big games all over the place…at home, ON THE ROAD (including against teams rated #1), at top tier bowls:

Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tennessee, USC, Nebraska, Miami FLA, Pitt (when they were an annual Top 10 team or better), LSU, Alabama.

Franklin is good at his job and has garnered some good results - but not at a top tier level that a blue blood program like Penn State has been used and has the potential.

Paterno was one of the best coaches of all-time and has the record in the biggest games to back it up.
Like I said above, Franklin is producing at the mean of big 10 era PSU. That’s the reality. It’s not apples to apples to compare independence era PSU versus Conference era PSU. It’s much more difficult to compete in a conference versus an independent eastern creampuff schedule. We were competing with two schools that matched or exceeded our resources when we join this conference. Now we’re competing with 4 schools with exceptional resources. When ND inevitably joins it will become even more difficult. Having said that, yes, we should’ve won that game last night. But we were losing the championship game regardless.
 
Like I said above, Franklin is producing at the mean of big 10 era PSU. That’s the reality. It’s not apples to apples to compare independence era PSU versus Conference era PSU. It’s much more difficult to compete in a conference versus an independent eastern creampuff schedule. We were competing with two schools that matched or exceeded our resources when we join this conference. Now we’re competing with 4 schools with exceptional resources. When ND inevitably joins it will become even more difficult. Having said that, yes, we should’ve won that game last night. But we were losing the championship game regardless.
Our schedule as an independent was tougher than our Big10 schedules.

Plenty of cream puffs in Big10, btw.
 
Our schedule as an independent was tougher than our Big10 schedules.

Plenty of cream puffs in Big10, btw.
Sorry, it’s far more difficult to compete in a conference. Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, etc. never had close to the same resources as PSU. Now we’re playing against several schools that meet and in terms of NIL exceed our resources. That is reality. If we subtract the Covid year and first two years under sanctions for Franklin and subtract the dark years under Joe, PSU’s performance has been remarkable similar between 1995 and now. We’re a half step below OSU and Michigan and a half step above the Iowa’s and Wiscy’s.
 
I dont get the Franklin hate after last night. I get it most of the time, but I didn't see any really dumb coaching decisions last night. Drew missed throws and I've been happy with Drew this year, he didn't play well at all last night.
 
I dont get the Franklin hate after last night. I get it most of the time, but I didn't see any really dumb coaching decisions last night. Drew missed throws and I've been happy with Drew this year, he didn't play well at all last night.
I have been defending Franklin and agree with you to an extent, but I think Franklin could’ve done a better job grounding Drew. There were outside influences that started to come in from the NFL recently to get him to declare and Drew was trying to be too perfect and aiming his passes last night (a great example was the simple past the Singleton that cost us four points), I think with the belief that he was under an nfl microscope.
 
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Give me a break. Franklin does a good job. Some of our 1960s to 1980s teams would probably not have have done as well if they had to play Michigan and Ohio State every year.

Heck, we lost to Nebraska at home in 1982 if replay is in place. We got a lot of home cooking back then. We probably weren't beating them at the end of the year if a playoff was in place. SMU was 11-0-1 and might have beaten us as well.

Our 1986 team in addition to Miami finished ahead of 1-loss Oklahoma. Do we beat them in a playoff? I doubt it. Joe couldn't beat Bear or Barry Switzer.

I'm glad we have our mythical national championships to fall back on. But it's a fine line. Did Joe become a worse coach after 1986? Or did his competition level increase? He had one unbeaten season and one 11-1 season after that.

Our talent composite was far less than ND's, but we were right there and have a good shot at being back in the playoff next year.

If you're firing Franklin who ya got to replace him? Cause he better be a sure bet. The Fortune 500 thing means little. We have enough alumni we're bound to have some CEOs . It doesn't take many to lead the list. We don't lead the country. We trail Stanford.. How many billionaire alumni do we have? Not enough for this new age of college football.
talent level far less than ND? are you joking? Go back and look at the recruiting class rankings from 2019 -- present day as I did...the difference is negligible..decimal points between the two. We had some better years, and they had better years. If you think that ND team had more talent than us last night, I don't know what to tell you. They had a Duke transfer at QB....had five starters (including their three best players on the DL) injured, star RB hobbled, down to a 3rd stringer on the OL, and we still blew it. They do not have more talent. It was another choke job.
 
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Give me a break. Franklin does a good job. Some of our 1960s to 1980s teams would probably not have have done as well if they had to play Michigan and Ohio State every year.

Heck, we lost to Nebraska at home in 1982 if replay is in place. We got a lot of home cooking back then. We probably weren't beating them at the end of the year if a playoff was in place. SMU was 11-0-1 and might have beaten us as well.

Our 1986 team in addition to Miami finished ahead of 1-loss Oklahoma. Do we beat them in a playoff? I doubt it. Joe couldn't beat Bear or Barry Switzer.

I'm glad we have our mythical national championships to fall back on. But it's a fine line. Did Joe become a worse coach after 1986? Or did his competition level increase? He had one unbeaten season and one 11-1 season after that.

Our talent composite was far less than ND's, but we were right there and have a good shot at being back in the playoff next year.

If you're firing Franklin who ya got to replace him? Cause he better be a sure bet. The Fortune 500 thing means little. We have enough alumni we're bound to have some CEOs . It doesn't take many to lead the list. We don't lead the country. We trail Stanford.. How many billionaire alumni do we have? Not enough for this new age of college football.
Then I guess you would support giving him another contract extension since nothing is a sure bet.
 
The magic of a place like Penn State is that we know what winners look like. We understand what it takes to make championship caliber teams and individuals. In fact, we strive to that end. It's ingrained in our culture. We lead the country in Fortune 500 CEOs. We've witnessed countless all-Americans (both academic and athletic), and we understand when an individual or group does not measure up.

We've sort of known this about James Franklin for a while now, and we've been at best "slow to react", and at worse negligent, to what we've seen. I'll probably take some push back on this but the word I would most associate with James Franklin now is "politician". I'm sorry if some of you think that's harsh but that's my opinion. At least he graduated from used car salesman.

There is a new age dawning or perhaps being reborn. Let's call it a resurgence of American exceptionalism. The "managed decline" peddlers of the past are waning. We have an opportunity to embrace our roots and reject the marginalized expectations of dying ideologies.

James Franklin has not embraced the full tradition of Penn State. In fact, he appears to be capitalizing on its "managed" decline. At a minimum, he doesn't seem to properly motivate the young people under his care or demonstrate our principles. At worst he neglects the basic principles of graduation rates, academic exceptionalism and high achieving academic standards. He's had too many scandals, excuses, historic and record failures and time and time again has failed to establish the requisite mental toughness in those under his care. It's not that he loses, it's that he seems to have abandoned the principles that once made us great.

He also happens to be the complete polar opposite of our past leader, JVP. He's a terrible game day, X&O Coach. It is apparent its not something he can learn and what is more problematic is that he doesn't seem interested in what made us successful in the first place which is really unforgivable. His inclinations seem to be the opposite of our culture and cannot continue. Plain and simple.
I think a lot of that is true. However, we just played in the national semi-finals and the team seems to get better just about every year.

Frankly, having lived through the Jerry Sandusky mess, it is a miracle that the team made it here. CJF is a weak X & O guy in tight games. we often lose games that we've been winning as we did last night. At the same time, CJF is a great ambassador of the University and football program. So he is strategically sound but tactically weak.

Right now, he needs to address the WR problem. This has been ongoing and it is hard to figure why. AK is a great OC and we have had several good to great QBs as well as a good legacy at WR over the last ten years. Why have our WRs let us down over the last five years?

In the end, it is easy to complain. If CJF leaves, who would replace him? Honestly, there aren't a lot of coaches that are better.
 
I have been defending Franklin and agree with you to an extent, but I think Franklin could’ve done a better job grounding Drew. There were outside influences that started to come in from the NFL recently to get him to declare and Drew was trying to be too perfect and aiming his passes last night (a great example was the simple past the Singleton that cost us four points), I think with the belief that he was under an nfl microscope.

The NFL chatter was definitely in his head. Worst game he’s played in a long time.
 
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The NFL chatter was definitely in his head. Worst game he’s played in a long time.
We really got effed up by external forces of the biz from Drew and the NFL chatter to Pribula and the NIL chatter that caused him to leave the team and make big money with Missouri. I think Pribula would’ve excelled in special packages last night.
 
We really got effed up by external forces of the biz from Drew and the NFL chatter to Pribula and the NIL chatter that caused him to leave the team and make big money with Missouri. I think Pribula would’ve excelled in special packages last night.
We really could have used Beau as a change up last night with Allar having a bad night. That really hurts.
 
We really could have used Beau as a change up last night with Allar having a bad night. That really hurts.
I also imagine what the outcome would be if Carter had two functional arms! I think he would’ve had at least one forced fumble and definitely one recovered fumble as well. I know it’s long-term, but I think we really missed Winston in some key moments this season and especially last night. Oh well, obviously ND had their own injuries to deal with too.
 
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The magic of a place like Penn State is that we know what winners look like. We understand what it takes to make championship caliber teams and individuals. In fact, we strive to that end. It's ingrained in our culture. We lead the country in Fortune 500 CEOs. We've witnessed countless all-Americans (both academic and athletic), and we understand when an individual or group does not measure up.

We've sort of known this about James Franklin for a while now, and we've been at best "slow to react", and at worse negligent, to what we've seen. I'll probably take some push back on this but the word I would most associate with James Franklin now is "politician". I'm sorry if some of you think that's harsh but that's my opinion. At least he graduated from used car salesman.

There is a new age dawning or perhaps being reborn. Let's call it a resurgence of American exceptionalism. The "managed decline" peddlers of the past are waning. We have an opportunity to embrace our roots and reject the marginalized expectations of dying ideologies.

James Franklin has not embraced the full tradition of Penn State. In fact, he appears to be capitalizing on its "managed" decline. At a minimum, he doesn't seem to properly motivate the young people under his care or demonstrate our principles. At worst he neglects the basic principles of graduation rates, academic exceptionalism and high achieving academic standards. He's had too many scandals, excuses, historic and record failures and time and time again has failed to establish the requisite mental toughness in those under his care. It's not that he loses, it's that he seems to have abandoned the principles that once made us great.

He also happens to be the complete polar opposite of our past leader, JVP. He's a terrible game day, X&O Coach. It is apparent its not something he can learn and what is more problematic is that he doesn't seem interested in what made us successful in the first place which is really unforgivable. His inclinations seem to be the opposite of our culture and cannot continue. Plain and simple.

And there we have it ... the inevitable mention of JoePa ... whose ego led him to stay on way too long, and led the program into comparative mediocrity, and then almost nonexistence.

Meanwhile, we currently have a guy at the helm who has led the program back up to elite/near-elite status, and he's somehow not enough, despite outperforming his predecessor's latter career in much more challenging times and circumstances.

Get over yourself and your mythology ... we were a play away from a shot at the Natty.

Be proud of this team and this program, or fix yourself.

The JoeBots suck.
 
I have been defending Franklin and agree with you to an extent, but I think Franklin could’ve done a better job grounding Drew. There were outside influences that started to come in from the NFL recently to get him to declare and Drew was trying to be too perfect and aiming his passes last night (a great example was the simple past the Singleton that cost us four points), I think with the belief that he was under an nfl microscope.
Fair enough. Drew's started a lot of games for us, he is supposedly an NFL level talent, he had a poor game. We needed drew to play smart and hit some throws, he was off last night. Don't know if it was outside influences or not, but he didn't play well enough. I thought Franklin had his team prepared and the team played well last night. A slip causing a blown coverage and terrible interception were the difference. I thought we were the better team which is a credit to Franklin.
 
Fair enough. Drew's started a lot of games for us, he is supposedly an NFL level talent, he had a poor game. We needed drew to play smart and hit some throws, he was off last night. Don't know if it was outside influences or not, but he didn't play well enough. I thought Franklin had his team prepared and the team played well last night. A slip causing a blown coverage and terrible interception were the difference. I thought we were the better team which is a credit to Franklin.
Drew has had a bad month...not just one game. Beginning with Oregon and ending with ND, his four game postseason accounted for a 54% comp pct and some terrible misfires and INT's. As of this point, he doesn't have it upstairs...can that change? sure it can. Do I think it will under JF....more than likely, no.
 
Fair enough. Drew's started a lot of games for us, he is supposedly an NFL level talent, he had a poor game. We needed drew to play smart and hit some throws, he was off last night. Don't know if it was outside influences or not, but he didn't play well enough. I thought Franklin had his team prepared and the team played well last night. A slip causing a blown coverage and terrible interception were the difference. I thought we were the better team which is a credit to Franklin.
I thought we were the better team too. I thought more of our talent popped than what ND had. Franklin had them ready in the first half. The defense stunk in the second half and drew was horrible all night. In the end Franklin blew a golden opportunity and that's not to his credit. He's the head coach and we lost for the 18th time in 19 games against top five competition. We are considered frauds in big games and that's what he deserves credit for.
 
Drew has had a bad month...not just one game. Beginning with Oregon and ending with ND, his four game postseason accounted for a 54% comp pct and some terrible misfires and INT's. As of this point, he doesn't have it upstairs...can that change? sure it can. Do I think it will under JF....more than likely, no.
Well said. Don't forget he ended the Oregon game with a brainless interception. He looks nervous to me and I'm shocked at how horrible his footwork is. He's airmailing balls and missing throws because he's throwing off his back foot. He doesn't set his feet and drive the ball.
If not for two pass interference calls he was bordering on John Schaffer type incompetence circa Oklahoma 85.
 
Drew has had a bad month...not just one game. Beginning with Oregon and ending with ND, his four game postseason accounted for a 54% comp pct and some terrible misfires and INT's. As of this point, he doesn't have it upstairs...can that change? sure it can. Do I think it will under JF....more than likely, no.
he played against better competition. While people want to poopoo SMU and Boise, they are still good teams. Certainly top 20 and ranked. PSU blew both of them out. I think your expectations are unrealistic. Especially when we know that our WRs have not performed well at all. We've got a WR problem, not a QB problem.
 
Franklin had an opportunity to put all the naysayers to bed last night by pulling out a win against a formidable ND team in the semis. Unfortunately, the narratives about James’ big game performances against equal or better opponents was reinforced with the way we lost again.
 
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he played against better competition. While people want to poopoo SMU and Boise, they are still good teams. Certainly top 20 and ranked. PSU blew both of them out. I think your expectations are unrealistic. Especially when we know that our WRs have not performed well at all. We've got a WR problem, not a QB problem.
respectfully disagree...so if my expectations are unrealistic for a so called 5 star qb to be in the low to mid 50's for his comp pct against two G5 schools (sorry a new ACC team in SMU), an Oregon team with a terrible defense, and a ND squad with half of it's starters out on D, then I guess I am unrealistic. Drew has been terrible this last month...hard to argue that. I rewatched his low throw to Nick again last night like 10 times...doesn't step into it, just all arm...sorry, that can't happen at this stage. He got bailed out by two flags last night or he would have thrown two terrible INT"s in the endzone...

We have a QB problem in big games...of which Drew hasn't won any vs comparable blue bloods for two years now. Obviously our WR issue is paramount...but Drew by every measure the last four games has been a liability. He misses too many throws...the wheel route to Nick, the pass over the middle late to Wallace was awful...I just don't see it, but maybe 2025 he puts it together, who knows.
 
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Well said. Don't forget he ended the Oregon game with a brainless interception. He looks nervous to me and I'm shocked at how horrible his footwork is. He's airmailing balls and missing throws because he's throwing off his back foot. He doesn't set his feet and drive the ball.
If not for two pass interference calls he was bordering on John Schaffer type incompetence circa Oklahoma 85.
It's either he isn't being taught the fundamentals well and the staff isn't harping on it...or (and most likely), they are and he just doesn't have it upstairs. I think he is afraid in the pocket and doesn't see things quickly enough. He just doesn't seem to shake things off and move on to the next play...combined with being maddeningly inconsistent. You can't have that at QB.
 
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respectfully disagree...so if my expectations are unrealistic for a so called 5 star qb to be in the low to mid 50's for his comp pct against two G5 schools (sorry a new ACC team in SMU), an Oregon team with a terrible defense, and a ND squad with half of it's starters out on D, then I guess I am unrealistic. Drew has been terrible this last month...hard to argue that. I rewatched his low throw to Nick again last night like 10 times...doesn't step into it, just all arm...sorry, that can't happen at this stage. We have a QB problem in big games...of which Drew hasn't won any vs comparable blue bloods for two years now. Obviously our WR issue is paramount...but Drew by every measure the last four games has been a liability.
The ball hit Nick in the hands. That should be a catch ten times or of ten. Sure, you can fault the QB but he has a lot going on. Nick has to catch that ball.

Allar is only 20 years old. He's made great plays all season. The great Riley Leonard, 4 year starter and transfer from Duke (who is 22) was only 15 of 23 with two INTs. The difference was a) he had WRs and b) PSU's defensive backfield fell down. Greathouse killed us with 7 receptions and 105 yards. He's only had 36 receptions for 464 yards all year. They had players step up at critical times. We did not.
 
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