James Franklin has not won big games with enough frequency during his Penn State tenure. This is not breaking news. He did put one on the board when the Nittany Lions crushed SMU in Happy Valley in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Advancing as heavy favorites, though, does not change the conversation. And neither will winning the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State on Tuesday night to secure a spot in the final four of the first-ever 12-team tournament. That may be tough but it may also be fair.
Franklin now faces the unenviable proposition of not getting real credit for brining his team to the doorstep of a national championship while knowing full well that suffering an upset as the calendar turns to 2025 would be disastrous in the court of public opinion.
