by Kyle Golik
The regression of Drew Allar, the opt-outs, or the lack of a vertical threat could be the reason or excuse that James Franklin needs to rest on when you look at why he lost another big game.
It seems like Franklin is a Hollywood producer pumping out bad loss after bad loss, like how the “Ernest” series went. It never got better for good ole Ernest P. Worrell, and it doesn’t appear like it will for James G. Franklin either.
While Ole Miss did not enter the game in the Top 10, they were No. 11, but if we expand it to Franklin’s record in games against Top 12 teams during his first ten seasons at Penn State, Franklin’s record is 5-19.
Franklin only has two wins against teams when facing a team ranked in the Top 12 during the 2020s: 2021 vs. Wisconsin and the 2023 Rose Bowl vs. Utah. Following another disappointment in the Peach Bowl against Ole Miss, he began to address the issues that plagued him in this game.
Quarterback Drew Allar, who was a preseason Heisman dark horse, never resembled the look of a Heisman contender in the big games this season. Allar failed to complete 50% of his passes in Penn State’s three biggest games. Even though he was able to have his highest output passing-wise since Week 1 against West Virginia, most of that yardage came after Ole Miss went up three possessions and had the game in hand.
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“I think it’s all of it, right? We’ve got to stay on schedule like we talked about. We’ve got to make plays for him when we have the opportunity to make plays for him. I think there’s some things that he can do and be more consistent as well, but I think the biggest thing, which I think was a question earlier, is we’ve got to be able to scare people and be a threat consistently on the perimeter.” Franklin continued.
That’s something I think we’ve shown flashes of at times, but we need to be able to do that on a consistent basis. So it’s a little bit of Drew. I think it’s a little bit of the offensive line. I think it’s a little bit of the coaches. I think it’s a little bit of the wide receivers. It’s a piece of all of it. We’ve got to make some plays for him, and he’s got to make some plays as well.”
—James Franklin on Drew Allar’s struggles against big competition
While Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin lauded Franklin ahead of the game for having so few transfers and opt-outs, the last-minute opt-outs of tackle Olu Fashanu and Kalen King hurt Penn State’s chances significantly.
It was discovered Friday prior to the bowl when Franklin mentioned that cornerback Johnny Dixon did not travel with the team and opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft.
In Franklin’s opening statement, he mentioned the last-minute “moving parts.” When he was asked in the postgame to expand upon those remarks, Franklin replied:
“We had significant players that have played all year long that weren’t in that game. I don’t want this to come off the wrong way. I’m not criticizing, but it is what it is. It’s the reality. I think about guys that did play in the game and how appreciative we are, but not only appreciative, there’s an opportunity to create value by playing in games as well. Talking to some people, our guys playing against Ole Miss and playing well was also an opportunity, and these things — obviously we need to have some discussions as a team in how we’re going to handle these things moving forward, but it was different. You look at last year’s game and this year’s game, it was different, and we need to have some healthy discussions about that as a staff and as a team and how we want to operate moving forward”
– Penn State Head Coach James Franklin on the last minute opt outs
At one point in the Peach Bowl, linebacker Abdul Carter missed time due to injury, and with opt-outs in EDGE Chop Robinson, cornerbacks Kalen King and Johnny Dixon, along with the departure of defensive coordinator Manny Diaz to Duke, the defense Ole Miss saw was a shell of itself. This was not the same unit that allowed only 223 yards per game in the regular season. The unit that was on the field in Atlanta allowed 540 yards to Ole Miss.
As Franklin left the press conference, the full weight of what uphill journey he had gone through. He had fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich after the Michigan game, Diaz left for the Duke head coaching vacancies, the amount of opt outs wrecked both sides of the ball, and Franklin produced another big game disappointment for Penn State fans.
Time will tell if new coordinators Andy Kotelnicki (offense) and Tom Allen (defense) are the answers.
Time will also tell if Penn State is ranked in the Top 12 again and give them the chance to take part in the expanded College Football Playoff.
Ahead of the game, I wrote that he was elite. That hasn’t changed. After experiencing the game in person, I feel Franklin is an elite coach who lacks elite results.
Whether he is college football’s worst big-game coach or just the one with the worst luck is up for debate. For now, a coach that wins one out of five in Top 12 matchups is primed to continue to produce many sequels of disappointments.
Hopefully, Penn State fans have a new appreciation for the plethora of “Ernest” films. They are living through their own crazy saga of wild adventures, and there is no sign of things changing anytime soon.
