James Franklin would be shockingly outmatched by Kirby Smart in a College Football Playoff first-round matchup

James Franklin took over the Penn State football program in 2014, two years before Kirby Smart became the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs. the two programs met in the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl, Georgia’s final game before Smart grabbed the reins at his alma mater, and with the latest release of the 12-team College Football Playoff rankings, Franklin’s Nittany Lions would host Smart’s Bulldogs in the first round at Beaver Stadium. 

Despite Franklin’s two-year head start, Smart has accomplished much more in his tenure, winning back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and making the four-team CFP three times. Franklin has yet to make the CFP, though he’s spent a decade knocking on the door. The biggest difference between the two programs and head coaches is success in big games against the best teams, and it’s a stark discrepancy. 

James Franklin is 3-18 against top 10 ranked teams during his time at Penn State. Kirby Smart is 20-8 against top 10 teams at Georgia and has two this season. 

This regular season, Smart has beaten then No. 1 Texas in Austin and on Saturday beat No. 7 Tennessee, accounting for two of his 20 top 10 wins. Within the calendar year, Smart also has a 63-3 win over No. 5 Florida State in the Orange Bowl to equal Franklin at three wins. The tweet is a bit misleading because Smart’s 52-17 win over No. 10 Ole Miss in 2023 came on November 11, just outside of the last 365 days. While not technically correct, the tweet illustrates how lopsided the matchup on the sidelines would be if Penn State did face Georgia in the first round of the College Football Playoff. 

Kirby Smart is familiar with the big moment and knows what it takes to lead a team to a national championship. James Franklin is still figuring that out, and would likely prefer his first playoff game to come with a different coach than Smart looming on the opposite sideline.