- Penn State coach James Franklin is facing similar scrutiny to what Ohio State’s Ryan Day experienced last season.
- Despite a recent loss to Oregon, Penn State can look to Ohio State’s 2024 national title run as a model for recovery.
- Fans have expressed frustration with Franklin’s record against Top 10 teams, similar to how Ohio State fans reacted to Day’s losses to Michigan.
The same lonely, desperate look. Saw it on the face of Ryan Day last season, saw it on James Franklin last weekend.
But there’s a road back for Penn State, no matter what Franklin feels gnawing at his insides. From the lowest of lows, to maybe — just maybe — the highest of highs.
“At some point, and quickly, you make a decision to move on with a plan of how to make it right,” Day said in January, days before his Ohio State team rebounded from the worst loss of his coaching career by winning the national title.
If there’s one takeaway following Penn State’s gut-punch of an overtime loss to Oregon, it’s this: at least it wasn’t to a bitter rival for the fourth consecutive season.
Because other than that, Franklin is mirroring Day in some sort of sick symphony of the unexplainable. Day found a way out of the crushing reality last season, rallying from another loss to Michigan to win the College Football Playoff as a No. 8 seed.
Franklin will begin down that road this week, days removed from yet another loss to a Top 10 team despite a talented, loaded roster and a three-year starter at quarterback.
But how do you respond to an irrecoverable loss? How do you move forward when unrelenting noise from the outside begins to creep inside and infect everything?
How do you convince a group of 18-22-year-olds, as consumed with NIL deals and social media standing as their place in a championship race, that all isn’t lost?
How do you convince a coaching staff that spent all offseason preparing for this moment — after three gimme putts to begin the season against vastly inferior opponents — the goals haven’t changed?
This was the opportunity to make a statement early, and ride it all the way to Columbus, Ohio in early November and slay that dragon, too.
And now what?
Penn State is 4-21 vs. Top 10 teams under Franklin, and early in the fourth quarter of the Oregon game — after the Ducks had taken a 17-3 lead — Lions fans began chanting “Fire Franklin” for the coach with a 37-9 record since 2022. Those chants from fans in Happy Valley at the end of their rope with a coach who has won at least 11 games five times since 2016.
Meanwhile, back in last November, as Michigan celebrated its fourth straight win over Ohio State and the teams fought at midfield after the game, fans in Columbus began chanting “Fire Ryan Day.” For a coach that has won at least 11 games five times since 2019.
Day and Ohio State rallied behind a senior-laden team, and an experienced quarterback who got hot at the right time. They beat a surging SEC team (Tennessee) to begin the CFP, then beat No. 1 Oregon, SEC runner-up Texas and a Notre Dame team that had won 13 straight games.
They did it by doubling down on what they did best: run the ball and throw off play action. It was no longer about proving toughness, it was about getting the ball into the hands of the most-talented players on the team.
It was also about continuing to play tough, punishing defense behind coordinator Jim Knowles, who spent three years tweaking and perfecting his system before moving to Penn State at the end of last season.
Hours after the soul-stealing loss to Oregon, Franklin started talking to Knowles about how Ohio State found a way back from the abyss. Then Franklin had Knowles address the players and staff.
You can listen to words, but can you hear it? In this highly visual society, it’s advantageous to have someone who can paint the picture of success for all to clearly see.
It’s easy to yammer on about not letting one loss turn into two, or how great teams don’t get beat twice by the same game. Or how the CFP has given teams a longer runway to find a way to the big prize.
All of that is philosophical mind games. Teams and players today need to see it, feel it and more important, follow a step-by-step path.
Ohio State star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith caught five passes for 35 yards against Michigan. In four CFP games after Ohio State decided to double down on what it does best — Smith had 19 catches for 381 yards and five touchdowns.
There’s nothing magical to it. Do what you do best, and do it without hesitation or disruption.
Running backs Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton, the strength of the Penn State offense for three seasons, combined for just 96 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries against Oregon. That will drastically change over the next two months of the season.
Because if you’re James Franklin and your career is mirroring Ryan Day’s, keep doing what he did. Get back to the basics, and do them better than you ever have to find a way out.
“There’s a ton of football left to be played,” Franklin said.
And a road back to the highest of highs.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.