“Big Game James” Franklin has been maligned over his 11-year career at Penn State for his lack of “big game” success. Heading into the Nittany Lion’s Fiesta Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Boise State, Franklin was 3-19 against AP Top 25 teams across his tenure, but on New Year’s Eve, he got win No. 4, and most importantly, is finally one of the last four teams standing.
For the first time in Franklin’s career in 2024, Penn State finished in the CFP top four, ironically in the year of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. Instead of an automatic trip to the semifinal, which has eluded him since taking over the program, Penn State got a favorable draw with ACC runner-up SMU and Mountain West Champion Boise State in his way. Despite that fortunate path as a double-digit favorite in the first two rounds, a 31-14 Fiesta Bowl win means it’s finally time to give Franklin his flowers.
The Nittany Lions were far from perfect in the win. An inexplicable reluctance to run the ball from offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki allowed the No. 3 seeded Broncos to hang around well into the second half, but a win is a win, and if making the CFP semifinal is where Penn State fans have set the bar over the past 11 years, then it’s officially been cleared.
The College Football Playoff will almost certainly clean up the format that allowed for Penn State to face Bosie State while No. 1 Oregon plays Ohio State as a betting underdog in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, but formatting anomaly or not, the Nittany Lions handled their business and have a chance to play for a spot in the national championship game in the Orange Bowl on Thursday, January 9 against the winner of the Sugar Bowl, either Notre Dame or Georgia.
Penn State revealed its flaws on Tuesday night. A stellar performance from Drew Allar ended with a 13/25, 171-yard, three-touchdown stat line and was overshadowed by poor wide receiver play, and defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s unit was exposed on the backend, even by Boise State’s Maddux Madsen who finished with over 300 yards passing, but in the end, the Nittany Lions closed the game out with a physical run game and held Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty to 104 yards on 30 carries (a season-low 3.5 yards per carry), short of Barry Sander's single-season record.
The Nittany Lions are far from perfect, and will likely enter the semifinal as an underdog against either the Fighting Irish or the Bulldogs, but in a year of imperfection in college football, both on the field and in the format of the championship, they have a chance. However, the season ends now it’s a success, but to fully shake the “big-game” monkey off his back, many fans will expect more than wins over SMU and Boise State, and at some point the expectations become unfair.