Penn State’s James Franklin earns “Big Win” at Southern California

by Kyle Golik

For those of us of a certain age, we remember the NFL Films Super Bowl XXIX highlight film and recall San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young going, “take the monkey off my back.” The proverbial “monkey” was the ghost of Young’s predecessor Joe Montana and the consistent reminders of Montana’s four Super Bowls.

In a lot of ways, Franklin’s emotions for kicker Ryan Barker , who was perfect on the day that included the 36-yard field goal in overtime to give Penn State a 33-30 win in overtime against Southern California, got lost in his emotions when he broke his CBS postgame interview and congratulated Barker.

"Are you kidding me? Huh?" Franklin told Barker as he gave him a bear hug. "F*cking awesome."

What was “f*cking awesome” was watching James Franklin coach his team to a comeback and win a big game for once . I am being facetious to an extent; the last major road win Franklin had was the 2021 opener against Wisconsin, who was ranked No. 12 at the time.

While it is easy to point out that Southern California had two losses entering the game and was unranked, this was still a major game regardless.

By all accounts, it was an elimination game for both sides—more so for Southern California, as a third loss may have eliminated them. However, had Southern California won, they controlled their own destiny. They still would have had to beat a rejuvenated Nebraska and most likely a Top 10 Notre Dame at home, but if they did, their résumé would have included those wins along with Penn State and LSU, which could have gotten Southern California in at 10-2.

For Penn State, let’s assume the three certainties in life for a Penn State fan are death, taxes, and losing to Ohio State. If Southern California had pulled off what I outlined above and Penn State finished 10-2, with Ohio State and Oregon no worse than 11-1, Penn State would not make the playoffs.

This was, by all accounts, a big win. Southern California held fourth-quarter leads and, at worst, was tied entering the final minute of regulation against LSU, Minnesota, and Penn State.

Southern California is the only team to have had four games against teams in the top 30 of the Saragin rankings.

Their schedule has been rated the 2nd hardest schedule this season, having lost three games by a combined 13 points

Southern California is a better football team than their record indicates. Penn State was pushed to the brink and answered the call.

James Franklin reflected on the importance of finding different ways to win throughout the season, emphasizing the resilience his team demonstrated against tough opposition:

“You’re going to have to find different ways throughout a season to win,” Franklin said. “Some are going to be blowouts, hopefully more of them are blowouts, but some of them are going to be comebacks. Some are going to be home where you get the fans and they’re supporting you. “Some are going to be on the road, where things are going against you, and you don’t have a whole lot of support in the stadium. Maybe weather, or whatever it may be, that’s big. I think the word ‘resilient’ was probably the best word to define our team today. It’s good to be able to go in and say, ‘Guys, we’re a second half team,’ but I prefer not to say that anymore. I prefer to be a four quarter team, a start fast team, a fourth quarter team, all of it. And we’re going to have to be that to continue to win the games that we want to win moving forward.”

Everything in this game was a character test for Penn State.

• Quarterback Drew Allar , who rarely turns the ball over, had three interceptions. Despite this, Allar showed perseverance , overcoming those turnovers to produce his finest passing day with 391 yards. More importantly, he made the biggest throws in multiple fourth-and-long situations.
• Penn State averaged 217.8 rushing yards per game, ranking second in the Big Ten entering the game. They also had running back Nicholas Singleton back, the explosive partner to Kaytron Allen . Although Penn State lost the rushing battle 189 to 118, Singleton and Allen were impactful in key moments, earning repeated carries.
• Penn State lost the turnover battle 3-0.
• Penn State wide receiver Julian Fleming , once considered a transfer bust, had arguably two of the biggest receptions of the season, something that might be a change for him.
• Tight end Tyler Warren proved to be the team's MVP, demonstrating his versatility. Not only can he play quarterback, running back, and tight end, but he also showed he can snap and make key receptions. Warren set Penn State and national records with 17 receptions.
• Defensively, a unit that allowed 233.2 yards per game entering the Southern California game gave up 409 yards. However, despite bending, the defense did not break, allowing only 10 points in the second half and overtime.

Maybe, this is a game that is a program changer for Franklin and Penn State . In recent years, being down 20-6 at halftime often meant a loss, but this time, they answered the call.

Looking ahead, everything is still on the table for Penn State. They have a margin for error, an opportunity to reach Indianapolis, and the College Football Playoff remains within reach. While this game may not have improved Franklin's reputation in games against ranked opponents, it was a big win, no matter how you slice it.