James Franklin has his “best roster” at Penn State, according to one anonymous Big Ten football coach, which will freight his 12th season with the Nittany Lions with some delirious expectations. They’re beginning now, as noted in Athlon Magazine’s 2025 College Football Preview.
Athlon released its annual preview package Friday, setting the table for a summer of Penn State football anticipation. The magazine not only placed Penn State at No. 2 in its preseason top 25 but also predicted that the Nittany Lions will meet Texas in the College Football Playoff championship game. Athlon joined the chorus suggesting that the Nittany Lions could follow Michigan and Ohio State’s past blueprints for winning a national championship.
As a result, fans and fellow coaches are looking at Penn State differently this year. Athlon’s preview package includes the magazine’s annual anonymous shop talk with Big Ten coaches, who dish on their peers without fear of reprisal. The coaches who spoke about Penn State did so quite favorably, with one suggesting that this is a make-or-break season for Franklin.
“This is the season James Franklin’s entire coaching career could be judged by,” one anonymous coach told Athlon. “If they can’t change their big-game problems with this group, it’s not happening.”
For Franklin, like it or not, that will be a driving theme of Penn State’s season. The Nittany Lions open the 2025 campaign with three benign non-conference games and a bye week before hosting Oregon for the likely White Out on Sept. 27.
After that, Penn State makes road trips to UCLA and Iowa (sneaky game there) before visiting Ohio State on Nov. 1. The Nittany Lions’ regular season hinges on the stretch from Sept. 27 to Nov. 1, but the real-feel heat for Franklin begins in December.
Penn State took advantage of its advantageous seeding last year, making the CFP semifinal and getting thisclose to beating Notre Dame. Barring significant injury issues, the Nittany Lions won’t have the luxury of being playoff first-timers sorting their way.
Franklin has the 1) deepest collection of offensive talent at Penn State, 2) the program’s first first-round NFL quarterback in 30 years, 3) the highest-paid assistant coach in college football (defensive coordinator Jim Knowles) and 4) the most potential draft picks of his tenure. The build largely is complete. Penn State is ready to win, which prompts comments like that of the anonymous Big Ten coach.
As FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt said separately on a recent episode of his podcast, Penn State is entering the last-hurdle segment of its race, specifically regarding winning big games.
“Penn State has proven, really for a number of years, they will absolutely take care of business,” Klatt said. “They will beat the teams that they should beat. What we haven’t seen from Penn State is them rise up and win the game that I would call a matchup game.
“When they’re looking across [the field] and the talent is [equal], and they may even be a bit of an underdog, can they win that game? Because, up until this point, they haven’t. Can they? Yes, I absolutely believe that they can. … That’s the next step. I believe they will take the next step.”
Penn State begins that next step Aug. 30 against Nevada at Beaver Stadium.
More Penn State Football
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
