James Franklin probably has an allergy or something. See, Penn State has been doing massive under him. A 70% winning percentage is a sign of good coaching. With a 95-40 run with the Lions, you might think that by now James Franklin is used to big games, right? Yeah, not really. Franklin keeps flopping under bright lights. They had 2 massive games this season. One was against OSU, and the other was the Ducks’ B1G title game. He lost both of them. Yeah, the Lions were good against the Buckeyes, putting up around 13 points on the board, but any Nittany Lions fan would agree that Franklin choked that showdown.

And against Oregon? Yeah, they put up 37 points on the board, but they also let the Ducks offense get away with 45. This right here is a massive problem, and that is exactly what Shannon Sharpe points out on Nightcap. “I’m not saying he’s not a good coach, but he, he, loses far too many of these games in order for us to put him in that great category,” Sharpe mentioned. Did you know that Franklin is 3-17 against Top 10 teams? Yeah, that is wild. Their last win against a top-10 team was during the 2022 Rose Bowl. They managed to bring home a massive 35-21 win against the Utes.

As Sharpe pointed out, Franklin ain’t a bad coach. Penn State is in the playoffs, right? Yeah, you can say they got it over with an easy schedule, but then again, they are ranked 38th in terms of SOS. They are at 183 points, and Ole Miss is right above them at 183.75 points.

But this “losing to top teams” allergy is something Franklin has to find a fix for because it has been going on for too long. We just talked about Franklin’s record against Top 10 teams, right? If you narrow that number down to the Top 5 teams, then he has gone 1-13 during his time with Penn State.

With the playoff here, he cannot risk another failure like that. More so because the loss to Oregon might sound like a good deal on paper: because the Lions are getting matched against an SMU who has an SOS of 75. The overall outcome of the game could end up becoming a deciding factor concerning Franklin’s run with the Lions.

James Franklin on the hot seat

Yeah, if you were a Lions fan, you would be very happy. An SMU game? then what? Boise State? This should be easy, right? People tend to forget that there are always 2 sides to the coin. Penn State has a much better roster than the Mustangs and has faced much tougher opponents, but if Franklin ends up choking this, then his job could be gone.

“If you lose, bam, you’re fired,” was what The Fan Upstate pointed out in their video. Losing to top-ranked opponents is understandable, but losing to the Mustangs won’t be something Lions’ fans would take lightly. Penn State fans were pretty lenient when Franklin choked the OSU game, but you can’t expect anyone to stay sane after a loss to SMU.

While Franklin has the better roster, keep in mind that SMU won’t be an easy target. If you had switched to the Clemson and SMU game, then the Mustangs somehow managed to run up from the 21-point deficit and literally tie up the score with the Tigers.

They were hell-bent on winning the ACC title game, and if it wasn’t for Nolan Hauser‘s FG, then Clemson wouldn’t even have the 12th seed spot on the final playoff bracket. SMU is ranked 11th for a reason,n and they will do everything to win. Franklin better not let his “allergy” get the best of him.