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The coach wins a Big Game...and looks toward another

Think this is a fairly big test of JF's coaching abilities. Without knowing anything about Boise State, I'm pretty sure everyone would say Lions have a talent advantage. Question is can JF keep team from underestimating Boise? Can he keep the team focused? Can he prep the team so they come out swinging?
Your last point concerns me the most. The slow starts are going to catch up at some point again. I'm not horribly concerned about Boise. But faltering early against Georgia or ND is a different story.
 
No also. He beat Zero top teams at Vandy. Look it up for yourself. Sometimes a coach gets lucky with the schedule and he surly did.
He was at Vandy, no such thing as having an easy schedule at Vandy….when you’re at Vandy, you are the easy team. Every team he beat those years were good teams compared to Vandy and better programs. Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Auburn….all better programs, look it up yourself. He took the worst team in the conference, won nine games in back to back years, and posters say he didn’t play anyone….good lord.
 
He was at Vandy, no such thing as having an easy schedule at Vandy….when you’re at Vandy, you are the easy team. Every team he beat those years were good teams compared to Vandy and better programs. Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Auburn….all better programs, look it up yourself. He took the worst team in the conference, won nine games in back to back years, and posters say he didn’t play anyone….good lord.
He was also at Vandy for 3 years which means he won with someone else’s recruits. lol his best win was against an 8-5 Georgia team. No one better. His record was 9-4, losing to the big boys of those years. Smoke and Mirrors.
 
He was also at Vandy for 3 years which means he won with someone else’s recruits. lol his best win was against an 8-5 Georgia team. No one better. His record was 9-4, losing to the big boys of those years. Smoke and Mirrors.
No such thing as smoke and mirrors when you’re coaching the worst program in the entire conference. And he won with the previous recruits who won 4 games in two years? Yeah, right. Tell me you know nothing about coaching without telling me.
 
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The biggest issue with a portion of the fanbase, in my opinion, is that Penn State for most of our lives was one of the giants who beat the Bamas, OSUs, Michigans, etc., at a .500 clip. PSU appeared to be on par with the heavyweights. PSU doesn't beat heavyweights anymore. The national championship is what mattered. Not 10 win seasons or pats on the back for winning a game in Minneapolis after almost blowing it. Not consolation prizes for losing by 7 to OSU at home.

PSU never has the spotlight now. Always on the outside looking in. To that line of thinking, PSU has to get to Georgia/ND and win or this season is more of the same. 12 wins but losses to OSU, Oregon and Boise/ND/Georgia would indicate that PSU isn't a true big boy but more of a top 15 team. It is inconsistent with where PSU used to be and what the program's standards/goals were.

Could not have summed it up better. In fact we were expected to do even better in bowl games because we prepared so well.
 
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No such thing as smoke and mirrors when you’re coaching the worst program in the entire conference. And he won with the previous recruits who won 4 games in two years? Yeah, right. Tell me you know nothing about coaching without telling
It is when don’t beat any top 25 teams. And you avoid all the top teams in the conference.
 
Yeah, this qualifies as "big." I don't give a shit whether SMU was ranked 10 or 11...or what their ranking will end up being.

The fact is an 11-win team came to town to play in a do-or-die playoff game...with all the marbles on the line...and our team and coaching staff, led by our coach, whipped them soundly.

This on top of an 11-win regular season that saw us go to the conference championship game.

The truth is that despite the frustrations against Ohio State, the occasionally mystifying coaching decisions on the field, and the media narrative, Franklin has won a lot of "big games" over the years...and today he added one more...maybe the biggest.

Boise State is a challenge. I've seen their All-American running back play and he's the real deal. But the early line pegs us as 11.5-point favorites...and the record shows that we don't lose too many games at those odds. Hopefully that will continue to be the case.

Meanwhile, kudos to the team...to the staff...and to the head coach on a great season.
Congratulations on his 100th victory.
 
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For how often I hear Penn State players talk about how much they love Franklin in post game interviews, I have to think he’s a great coach, which goes far beyond ranked wins.
 
For how often I hear Penn State players talk about how much they love Franklin in post game interviews, I have to think he’s a great coach, which goes far beyond ranked wins.
But kids loving their coach isn't always about success...Franklin has to do more than be liked by his team.
 
Some stats FWIW

Boise:
Total offense 6th
PPG 3rd
Total defense 62nd
PPG given 36th

Penn State:
Total offense 23rd
PPG 24th
Total defense 4th
PPG given 6th

Personally I don't understand how we were only 9 pt favorites at home vs #11 SMU but we're 11 pt favorites over #9 Boise on a neutral field.
 
Some stats FWIW

Boise:
Total offense 6th
PPG 3rd
Total defense 62nd
PPG given 36th

Penn State:
Total offense 23rd
PPG 24th
Total defense 4th
PPG given 6th

Personally I don't understand how we were only 9 pt favorites at home vs #11 SMU but we're 11 pt favorites over #9 Boise on a neutral field.
Now factor in SOS with that data
Would SMU be favored over Boise on a neutral field?
 
Yeah, this qualifies as "big." I don't give a shit whether SMU was ranked 10 or 11...or what their ranking will end up being.

The fact is an 11-win team came to town to play in a do-or-die playoff game...with all the marbles on the line...and our team and coaching staff, led by our coach, whipped them soundly.

This on top of an 11-win regular season that saw us go to the conference championship game.

The truth is that despite the frustrations against Ohio State, the occasionally mystifying coaching decisions on the field, and the media narrative, Franklin has won a lot of "big games" over the years...and today he added one more...maybe the biggest.

Boise State is a challenge. I've seen their All-American running back play and he's the real deal. But the early line pegs us as 11.5-point favorites...and the record shows that we don't lose too many games at those odds. Hopefully that will continue to be the case.

Meanwhile, kudos to the team...to the staff...and to the head coach on a great season.

Blah blah blah, Lando.

Dude, we all know where you're coming from.
Every play off game is a b8g game
 
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I’m not saying there aren’t a million morons out there opining on college football, but when the football beat writers think SMU is a top team, and the NCAA football coaches think SMU is a top team, and the college football playoff committee thinks SMU is a top team, and they are the only team to go undefeated in their P4 conference in the regular season, maybe the few message board posters putting them down are the ones that are wrong.
 
Some stats FWIW

Boise:
Total offense 6th
PPG 3rd
Total defense 62nd
PPG given 36th

Penn State:
Total offense 23rd
PPG 24th
Total defense 4th
PPG given 6th

Personally I don't understand how we were only 9 pt favorites at home vs #11 SMU but we're 11 pt favorites over #9 Boise on a neutral field.
Well wasn’t it you that said SMU was a terrible matchup for Penn state? PSU is way better than Boise
 
It is when don’t beat any top 25 teams. And you avoid all the top teams in the conference.
But when you’re a bottom team, all the teams in the conference are above you. So how do you avoid all the top teams?
 
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