Penn State Football: 5 Changes James Franklin must make to turn program around

Winning in the Margins

Penn State Football rarely comes into a game without the talent needed to win.

The only team in the Big Ten that you can definitively say has more talent on its roster than Penn State is Ohio State. Michigan is usually an even push when it comes to roster talent. Penn State Football has the advantage against every other Big Ten program.

With that being said, most of James Franklins’ losses can be traced to the margins of a football game. Time of Possession is an aspect that Penn State has never been focused on. Penn State routinely struggles on third-down conversions and scoring red zone touchdowns.

In the last four seasons, Penn State has ranked 110th, 110th, 10th, and 114th in the nation in time of possession. As dominant as their defense is, it can’t hold up being on the field for this amount of time.

Third-down conversions naturally tie directly into the time of possession issue. Nationally, Penn State has ranked 83rd, 28th, 51st, and 64th in third-down conversions. Franklin and his offenses struggle to stay on the field. Franklin has had three offensive coordinators over the last four years. The offense has steadily gotten worse since former offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead left.

Scoring touchdowns in the red zone has also been an issue the last two seasons. Penn State Football is scoring a touchdown under 50% of the time when they reach the red zone. To give you an idea of how bad that is, in 2019, Penn State scored a touchdown 71% of the time.

These changes that James Franklin needs to make will complement each other. If Penn State can commit and have an effective running game, it will help time of possession and third-down conversions. Staying aggressive and executing will turn around the red zone numbers.

It’s about getting back to the famous James Franklin press conference. The program needs to go from great to elite.