Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I think that Nubbz and AC should dook it out. 

Don't drink it A.C you're still a young man.I think Brutus should quit smoking Hippy Lettuce - not there's anything wrong with that

(1) You have repeated that statement, that Franklin has overachieved each year. I worry my silence has led you to believe I agree, so I should clarify that I do not. I feel strongly that PSU's star was higher with BO'B and that Franklin underachieved in his first two years and that he also underachieved in 2018 (this time relative not to a BO'B extrapolation but relative to what JoMo could have done with the same pieces)

(2) the 2016, 2017, and 2018 versions of MSU have been described as a 7-6 caliber team with high variance (landing with respectively 3, 9, and 7 wins [rather than 7/7/7] on the whim of random chance) around here. PSU has been above that level all of these years.

(3) how have we gotten this far into the conversation without seeing if you agree with this statement: "In terms of clock management and 4th down management, James Franklin may well be** the worst in-game decision-maker in the Big Ten."
**(i.e., in a group of the worst 2-4 at this aspect of
Coaching)

In further news, according to Phil Steele, Penn State is the 127th youngest team out of 130 teams. 

Side note:  Purdue is the youngest team, ranked 130.

Phil Steele Breakdown

I am, without sarcasm, genuinely happy you are so satisfied. My fingers are crossed the fan base *unanimously* shares that satisfaction. 

I am also, without sarcasm, sincerely hopeful that no matter what records James produces in the upcoming years that I am proven fully incorrect as PSU keeps him until he asks to retire.

Depth chart was released yesterday.

All of my predictions were fairly adequate, with a few interesting notes:

1.  Defense Ends:  I somehow forgot that Shareef Miller was an early NFL departure.  Other than that, the preview remains the same.

2.  4 Running Backs are listed as co-starters.  However, Franklin did say that Ricky Slade will get the start and the bulk of most reps.  Interesting that the freshman are so good that it looks like both will burn their red shirts this year.

3.  Penn State's former doctor filed a lawsuit saying that Franklin pressured him into clearing guys before he felt comfortable, and it cost him his job.  That's going to be hard to sell given that the guy that replaced him is even MORE conservative with letting players back on the field.  He was the team doctor during the Paterno and BOB years. Oh, and the new guy is local, as opposed to being 2-3 hours away.   

I will keep an open mind, but on the surface it is pretty weak sauce.  No specifics, no documentation, just a vague complaint that Franklin was harassing him about clearing kids to play football.  Are we talking sprained pinkies, or are we talking concussions?  Was this any different than Harbaugh calling the Michigan team doctor and asking him to review his guys again before the game?  I'll take a wait and see approach for now.

Also, it sounds like PSU's legal team is willing to fight this, and they are notorious for settling anything.

4.  The graduate transfer Weston Carr isn't even on the 3 deep at the WR position.  He was a Div II all-american.  I'm starting to think Penn State's WR unit may be better than I thought.

The doctor thing is interesting. Seems ... Game of Thronesy. The guy (Lynch) who made this claim against Franklin and got kicked out was a Penn State grad (not a guy we should expect to be biased away from the program). And the guy (Sebastianelli) who replaces him was a Paterno loyalist. Sebastianelli actually *used* to have the job before Lynch replaced him. BO'B appeared to have a distaste for Paterno loyalists and removed him. Franklin has a different relationship with Paterno loyalists and has rehired him.

That doesn't of course mean that Lynch's allegations are correct. But, correct or not, the backstory seems unusually dramatic and political.

Bold:  Conjecture and only due to your personal bias.  Your obvious distaste for PSU is clouding your judgement.

Italics:  BOB didn't like Sebastianelli because he had numerous disagreements with him.  A big part of that was because Sebastianelli was super conservative when it came to injuries.  However, BOB did not have the power to remove him.  He was removed because ALL of Penn State athletics was moved to the Penn State Hershey Medical Center, in a plan that long predated BOB.  Obviously being 2-3 hours away isn't convenient, so Penn State is going the local route again.