2024 Penn State Offseason Thread

[medinabuckeye1]

I didn't see one, if there already was one, please combine. 

I saw this article, thought it was interesting.  

Background:
Franklin has now been at PSU for 10 seasons.  In those he has four pretty "meh" and six pretty good but nothing terrible and nothing great.  The four "meh" seasons came in two groups of two.  PSU went 7-6 in each of his first two years (2014, 2015) then below .500 the COVID year, and 7-6 again in 2021.  In those four seasons his PSU teams are unsurprisingly terrible against the Buckeyes and Wolverines at just 1-7 with the lone win coming against a Michigan team that was even worse at 2-4 in 2020.  

The problem for PSU/Franklin is that his PSU teams aren't much better against the Buckeyes and Wolverines even when PSU is pretty good.  In 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2023 PSU finished ranked and 9-4 or better.  Here is how those teams did against tOSU and M:

• L 49-10 at M in 2016 and finished 11-3.  Michigan finished 10-3, the loss isn't so much an issue as getting obliterated by what should have been a relative equal.  
• W 24-21 vs tOSU in 2016 and finished 11-3.  A nice win, tOSU finished 11-2 with their only other loss being in the CFP to NC Clemson.  
• W 42-13 vs M in 2017 and finished 11-2.  Nice win.   
• L 30-38 at tOSU in 2017 and finished 11-2.  Ohio State also finished 11-2, not a bad loss.  
• L 27-26 vs tOSU in 2018 and finished 9-4.  Ohio State finished 13-1, not a bad loss.  
• L 42-7 at M in 2018 and finished 9-4.  Michigan finished 10-3 so much like 2016 it isn't the loss that is troubling but rather the margin.  
• W 28-21 vs M in 2019 and finished 11-2.  Nice win but a game they should have won considering it was at home and M finished 9-4.  
• L 28-17 at tOSU in 2019 and finished 11-2.  Not a bad loss considering it was on the road and tOSU finished 13-1.  
• L 41-17 at M in 2022 and finished 11-2.  Like the other losses to M, the margin is the issue.  
• L 44-31 vs tOSU in 2022 and finished 11-2.  PSU and tOSU finished with the same record and this was at PSU.  
• L 20-12 at tOSU in 2023 and finished 10-3.  Not terrible considering on the road and tOSU finished 11-2.  
• L 24-15 vs M in 2023 and finished 10-3.  Not terrible.  

Even in their good seasons they have one win over tOSU and two wins over M in these six seasons for a total of 3-9.  Can they break out?  

They don't play Michigan this year and they host tOSU on November 2.  

[FearlessF]

UNL would fire his sorry ass

[Mdot21]

Penn State has two pre-season ranked teams on the entire schedule this year. And one of those ranked teams Penn State faces is USC- who honestly probably shouldn't even be ranked because USC are losing a ton from a mediocre team last year- including their QB who was just the #1 player taken in the NFL draft- and USC's defense will likely be complete booty cheeks. 

Franklin's 2024 PSU team returns a veteran, talented QB who needs to take the next step in Drew Allar and they have one of the best RB backfields in the entire country. It's Penn State- at this point you just assume they'll have a solid defense every year- despite some of the losses they had- they'll still be good there. 

Definitely feels like a major make or break year for Franklin. The schedule is very weak and he returns maybe the best or 2nd best QB at worst in the entire league. I feel like if he can't get to 11-1 in the regular season and sneak his way into the playoff- then what are we doing here Penn State AD? Definitely feels a lot like it's now or never for him. If not this year, then when?

[Mdot21]

their schedule: 


@West Virginia - they should win this game. if they lose it....start to panic.
vs Bowling Green - lol
vs Kent State - lol 
vs Illinois - lol 
vs UCLA - biggest lol maybe- UCLA is going to royally suck this year.
@ #23 USC - USC will be breaking in a brand new QB, they have no home field advantage to speak of, and their defense will suck. should be a win. 
@ Wisconsin - Madison is a tough place to play and I do think Fickell will have them playing much better Year 2. Tough game, toss up imo- but Penn State probably should win. 
vs #2 Ohio State - Ohio State *should* win- but Franklin gets them on his turf...a Happy Valley white-out night game could tip the scales- that's a bitch of a place to play at night with a rowdy crowd for a visiting team
vs Washington - they lost a ton and weren't deep to begin with- lost the HC and entire staff and best QB they've had in decades- completely different team- Penn State should win.
@ Purdue - win 
@ Minnesota - win 
vs Maryland - win 

If ole' Franklin isn't 10-2 or 11-1 with that schedule.....time to give him the ax imo. 

[847badgerfan]

I would really like to see UW take down Franklin this year. They are due.

[medinabuckeye1]

Definitely feels like a major make or break year for Franklin. The schedule is very weak and he returns maybe the best or 2nd best QB at worst in the entire league. I feel like if he can't get to 11-1 in the regular season and sneak his way into the playoff- then what are we doing here Penn State AD? Definitely feels a lot like it's now or never for him. If not this year, then when?

I can definitely see both sides of this.  Franklin is 21-5 over the last two years with a Rose Bowl win so it seems lubricious to talk about firing him but . . .

 @Mdot21 has a point.  Last year they lost at Ohio State by eight, lost at home to M by 9, and lost in Atlanta to Ole Miss by 13.  Those three teams finished 11-2, 15-0, and 11-2 respectively.  So their best win was . . .

• 31-0 at home over Iowa.  The Hawkeyes finished 10-4 but Michigan (26-0) and Tennessee (35-0) also shut them out.  Their offense was atrocious.  

In 2022 they were 11-2 but they lost at home to tOSU (finished 11-2) and got obliterated on the road by Michigan (finished 13-1) so their best win was . . .

• 35-21 over Utah in the Rose  Bowl

I agree generally on the schedule but:

@West Virginia - they should win this game. if they lose it....start to panic.

I'm not sure that losing on the road to WVU would be panic-inducing.  For one thing they'd still have a clear path to the B1GCG and a solid chance at the CFP.  For another, WVU might be sneaky good this year.  

If they can knock off Ohio State they should go to the B1GCG.  Even if not, they'd have a solid chance at 11-1 they'd just need some help.  

[Abba]

Penn State would've made the playoffs in a lot of these Franklin years with 12 teams.  So seems odd to think about firing him now.

[FearlessF]

hah, Husker fans are nearly ALWAYS thinkin bout firing the coach.

they wanted to Fire Osborne up until 1994

so, 95, 96, & 97 are the only 3 seasons they haven't thought about firing the coach since Devaney retired in 1972

[Mdot21]

Penn State would've made the playoffs in a lot of these Franklin years with 12 teams.  So seems odd to think about firing him now.

I don't know man. I just feel like if he can't do it this year, with that schedule and having a 5* QB going into his 3rd year in the program and second year starting- if he can't manage that easy cakewalk schedule and get that 5* QB to take a jump and go like 11-1 and get into the playoff, then when will he do it? If not now, then when?

It hasn't been 5 or 6 years that he's been there. Dude is going on his 11th year there. And what has he done if he fails this year? He'd have been there a decade plus and basically would have been owned by Ohio State & Michigan every year and some of those scores have been UGLY......and he's won 1 B1G title and never sniffed the playoff. 

They aren't paying him $10 million a year for that sh*t. They are paying him that kind of coin to win and win big. 

[Kris60]

their schedule:


@West Virginia - they should win this game. if they lose it....start to panic.
vs Bowling Green - lol
vs Kent State - lol
vs Illinois - lol
vs UCLA - biggest lol maybe- UCLA is going to royally suck this year.
@ #23 USC - USC will be breaking in a brand new QB, they have no home field advantage to speak of, and their defense will suck. should be a win.
@ Wisconsin - Madison is a tough place to play and I do think Fickell will have them playing much better Year 2. Tough game, toss up imo- but Penn State probably should win.
vs #2 Ohio State - Ohio State *should* win- but Franklin gets them on his turf...a Happy Valley white-out night game could tip the scales- that's a bitch of a place to play at night with a rowdy crowd for a visiting team
vs Washington - they lost a ton and weren't deep to begin with- lost the HC and entire staff and best QB they've had in decades- completely different team- Penn State should win.
@ Purdue - win
@ Minnesota - win
vs Maryland - win

If ole' Franklin isn't 10-2 or 11-1 with that schedule.....time to give him the ax imo.

I can see where Penn St fans might panic if they lose to WVU.  Right now, any opponent that doesn’t have a single digit by its name is an expected W for Penn St fans.  I have to think at this point the goal is playoff or bust for them.  Losing to an unranked WVU team they handled last year isn’t figuring into their plans.

With all that being said, I think WVU is being slept on a little bit nationally.  Penn St is currently a 10 point favorite in Morgantown.  If they cover that I’m going to be disappointed.

[Temp430]

I expect Penn State to contend for the Big Ten championship.  Like Oregon they have plenty of talent and are not breaking in a new QB this season.

[MrNubbz]

Ya Franklin seems to relate to kids and recruits the state well but his abilities as a game day coach is meh - he could use guys like Joe Morehead back.With UofM & USC prolly taking at least a bit of a dip this season it just could be now or never. Lucky for him they miss the Fighting Phil Knights this season but they have the Bastages at Camp Randall. JF kind of reminds me of John Stupor w/o the "I don't have a k-l-ew" or "Ah ru-ub ma luuky pi-ig" persona 

[MrNubbz]

I don't know man. I just feel like if he can't do it this year, with that schedule and having a 5* QB going into his 3rd year in the program and second year starting- if he can't manage that easy cakewalk schedule and get that 5* QB to take a jump and go like 11-1 and get into the playoff, then when will he do it? If not now, then when?

I hear Connor Stalions is available 

[Abba]

I think Drew Allar is going to hold PSU back a little bit this year, just like he did last year.  He may develop, but I just don't see it from this kid.  The answer to if not now then when is when they get a better QB like they had with McSorley or Clifford.