James Franklin‘s loss to the Buckeyes is one of the most “James Franklin” things he could’ve done. We agree that going up against that $20 million NIL roster is not easy, but only James Franklin can choke this badly after giving back-to-back massive wins. If we look into it more carefully, though, the flaws were clear from the start. See, the Nittany Lions have had problems, and it is clear from the USC game itself. While James Franklin is 9-1 this year, it could’ve easily been 8-2. Every time they have gone against someone remotely good, they have had issues. The Buckeyes game did help them change their focus and improve their offense, but should that exempt them from their mistakes?

Well, Joel Klatt thinks not. Back on The Joel Klatt Show, Klatt pointed out, “The offense has been tremendous….. Should we give them flowers for the winning against Purdue? Probably not, probably not.” See, Franklin and Co. have had a field day with their O-line. In the last 2 games against Huskies and Purdue, the Nittany Lions have managed to bring in touchdowns in 12 out of 19 of their possessions, but this does not mean they get a free pass.

See, every time they have not run the football, they have found themselves in trouble. As we pointed out before, the game against the Trojans was a sluggish win. While the passing game of the team was on point with around 400 yards, the rush game was a disaster at 118. Without Ryan Barker‘s FG, they would’ve probably gone into overtime and lost to Lincoln Riley.

And even against the Buckeyes, Drew Allar was all over the place. Had no touchdowns but managed to swing in an interception which gave Ryan Day and Co. an easy turnover. Penn State fans went wild over that loss. Franklin was even spotted getting into quite an argument with one fan.

But now, with the Minnesota game around the corner, it does make you wonder if we will see the same problems arise once again. The Gophers are an anomaly this year. They almost managed to win against the Wolverines 27-24, and they managed to flip the script against USC with a massive 24-17 game. However, then they went and lost to Rutgers. It does make you wonder what they will even do against Penn State.

Nittany Lions vs Golden Gophers

Does Penn State deserve the 4th spot on the CFP ranking list? Probably not. The only thing they have on their resume is a loss to the Buckeyes. Other than that, their strength of schedule has been relatively easy, and it begs the question of why they are even ranked above the Hoosiers. If Indiana does lose to Ohio State, they will still have a much better resume than the Nittany Lions.

Regardless, the point that we should focus on is if Franklin can even manage to win against the Gophers. See, Klatt pointed out something important. “If they can stop the run and force the game onto Brosmer’s arm. Then they’re going to have a great chance in this game,” Klatt noted. The only shot Minnesota has at grabbing a win is if they manage to curb the run game Franklin has done against the other teams on his schedule.

If the Gophers D-line manages to curb that and turnover the football to Max Brosmer, then they might win it or at least give Franklin a run for his money. However, if the Lions return to form and manage to play their good old rush game, then it is pretty much over for the Golden Gophers.