James Franklin’s Penn State is bracing up for a fiery weekend. They are off to test their mojo against the No. 1 Oregon after earning the first conference title game berth, dodging an eight-year drought. A slugfest loss of the Ohio State Buckeyes over the Michigan Wolverines immediately kicked Ryan Day and his boys out of the picture, making room for the Nittany Lions as they set the stage with a 44-7 Maryland win. If you argue Penn State has dropped the ball against Ohio State earlier in the season, read the first two conditions again. The hype around social media is already leaning toward the Ducks. Thanks to Dan Lanning’s incredible undefeated season. But remember, this season has never backed off from pulling out big surprises. Can you smell another one brewing under the arch of the Indianapolis in December?

The Ducks didn’t show a chink in their armor so far, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have one. The No. 1 ranked Oregon Ducks dominated at Autzen Stadium and sent a smashing 49-21 reality check to the Washington Huskies. Ducks coach Dan Lanning rose to 34-5 as a head coach and 24-0 against unranked teams. Just when we started to doubt the blueblood like the Ducks and tried to take them under the ‘all good teams have a bad day” cliche, they showed us why exactly we shouldn’t. They are phenomenal, they know their business the best. No doubt about that. But Penn State says hi. They didn’t grab the coveted BIG 10 Championship spot for nothing. ESPN’s Stanford Steve pointed out some aces in their holes.

”A lot of respect for Penn State. I actually kind of like the matchup for Penn State for them, yeah I do. Athleticism, defensively they have more difference-makers up front on the defensive line than Ohio State does. When I’m talking about Carter. They’ll bring dudes, they bring guys from the secondary constantly, yeah, and they’re super athletic. They do a good job of tackling in space, and that’s what you have to do against Oregon,” said the ESPN mogul in a reflective discussion.

Steve highlighted the creative boost the Nittany Lions gave themselves after an eye-opening Ohio State loss. Their defense can wreck the house now, and ESPN’s intellect says it’s safe to hope. ”I think Penn State’s pretty dangerous. We know we’ve wanted to see more from them but as a schedule part right we want, we wanted to see them play better football teams which has been the crux of this whole season with the Super Leagues,” Steve dished a sliver line to the 3.5 underdog.

But Coach Lanning seemed unphased about this comparison and pretty seated in his belief. The Ducks USP, from the coach’s lens, is their lockerroom bonding with each other and a healthy environment of the teamwork. On the flip, James Franklin put his money on the 1-0 mantra that paid them off throughout the season except against Ohio State.

James Franklin took a unique strategy to steer the right mindset among his team

Several key players of Penn State revealed that they didn’t even know what they were going to get a ticket to Indianapolis until after the game was over. You might see it as a silly confession, but these are all under the visionary Franklin’s master strategy to keep his team hungry and focused.

Head coach James Franklin tells his players not to look ahead but just look at the moment and nail it with all they have. There are a lot of teams that would currently be envious of Penn State’s position, hitting the Big 10 championship in a week. But none of them actually sees the staggering “1-0 mentality” — behind it. Focusing one task at a time proved such magic to the Penn State squad.

When the Buckeyes dropped it against the Wolverines, coach Franklin didn’t let his boys know what awaited them if they could win over Maryland. Many coaches could have thought it to be a cool idea to pump them up, but Franklin reads the phrase better than anyone.

”I didn’t say anything to the team. Actually, I did the opposite. I said, ‘Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland, Maryland.’ Because I think a lot of people were aware of it. Trying to keep us focused. … You’ve got to control the things that you can control,” Franklin helped his team to clinch a victory with his reverse motivation. Does it also help them to hit the bullseye on December 7?