Penn State football: Top-10 wins of the James Franklin Era

By Brad Weiss | Dec 1, 2020

STATE COLLEGE, PA - NOVEMBER 30: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions reacts to a play during the second half of the game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Beaver Stadium on November 30, 2019 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

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Saquon Barkley was terrific at Penn State (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

Penn State football: Top-10 wins of the James Franklin Era

Penn State wins overtime thriller over Minnesota

The 2016 season brought plenty of highs for the Penn State program, including a signature win, but we will get into that in a moment. That season, the Nittany Lions got off to an up-and-down start to the season, beating Kent State in the opener, losing to Pitt on the road, beating Temple, and then losing to No. 4 Michigan in Ann Arbor.

That set up a matchup with the Minnesota Gophers, a rivalry game that would prove to be the turning point in the best season of Franklin’s time at the school. Minnesota was down 20-13 heading into the fourth quarter, but as we all know, the party was just getting started. They scored ten straight to take a 23-20 lead before Tyler Davis kicked a 40-yard field goal to send it into overtime.

In overtime, Minnesota got the ball first, and the defense would stuff them, as they had to settle for a field goal. Star running back Saquon Barkley would send the home fans back to their cars happy, as he took a Trace McSorley handoff on the first play when Penn State got the ball back and raced 25 yards to the end zone for a 29-26 overtime victory.

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