FC: Ranking all of Franklin’s PSU teams…
- Thread starter Midnighter
- Start date
Off topic a tad: my two favorite PSU teams are 1981 and 2005 (I go back to 1969). I was hoping that this year’s team would get themselves up there.
i have to look at 2020 as a mulligan although it does count. The big ten office did no favors to the member institutions but they were just as scattered as everyone else
I think 2021 was actually the worst coaching because of how they demonstrated they did not not get a back up Qb ready. They had to rely on a hobbled Clifford. They were ranked as high as 4 before Iowa and then took a free fall.
Nope. Should swap #1 with #3. That 2016 team had more offensive firepower than any team in Penn State history except the 1994 team. The 2016 offense had Saquon, dual threat QB Trace McSorley, and the best WR room in program history. Plus they actually won the B1G championship and they beat Ohio State.
2016's defense gave up 42 points to Pitt, 49 points to Michigan and 52 points to USC.
Pitt did win the national championship that year
- 2017. Best and most talented overall team, but at the same time, they under-achieved. Should have been a no-doubter CFP team.
- 2016. A lot of credit to this team for not letting the Pitt and Michigan losses define them. Defense could have been better, but they EARNED the OSU win, it wasn't a fluke, and they EARNED the B1G Championship. Hell of a ride in the Rose Bowl, no shame in losing that one. Also the team that truly marked the end of "the sanctions era."
- 2024. Legitimately a #4-#6 best team in the country. Just couldn't beat either of the #1, #2 or #3.
- 2019. Somewhat under-appreciated bunch IMO. Clifford strong in 1st-year as the starter, good defense with Micah at his PSU peak. 2 bummer losses on the road, but they were right there in both. The NYD6 win over Memphis in the Cotton Bowl gets overlooked, Memphis deserved to be there.
- 2022. Rose Bowl win was a nice cap to the season, but the ugly loss where they were run over by Michigan - no team on this list above them ever got run over like that.
- 2023. The Michigan & OSU losses weren't as close as they appeared. A virtual "no show" in the Bowl versus Ole Miss.
- 2014. The least talented squad on this list. But they had legit HEART, a lot of that a holdover from O'Brien's squads. Gave eventual national champ OSU a legit run for their $$$, came back against BC in the Bowl, the enjoyable win over UCF in Dublin. Only 7-6 but a lot of good memories from Franklin's 1st Happy Valley season.
- 2021. Another 7-6 team, had that ridiculous 9OT loss to Illinois. But in-between it all, they had some good moments. Season-opening win in a tough spot (at Wisconsin), White-Out GameDay win over Auburn, gave both OSU & Michigan serious runs, MSU too in the snow game. Clifford showed guts, he was hurt after Iowa but kept battling. 7-6 but some bad luck to get there.
- 2018. This team may have won 2 more games than both the 2014 & 2021 teams, and they were objectively more talented than both. But ugh - I'm not sure there were any good memories.. An absolute blow job at home vs OSU, then turning that loss into 2 the next week vs MSU. Trailing 42-0 at the Big House. Losing to Kentucky in the Bowl, thus letting Mark Stoops trash-talk Franklin. A whole lot of BARF here.
- 2015. Hackenberg mailed it in the entire season, the OL was a total train wreck. Lucky to get to 7-5, arguably should have lost to both Army and an interim coach-led Maryland. The only real highlight of the season (and though we didn't know the extent of it at the time, a bright sign of things to come) was McSorley in the 2nd Half of the Gator Bowl.
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I don’t hold the 2016 in the high esteem that many PSU fans do. That year was the easiest to win the conference out of the 5 better seasons in Fanklin’s tenure. Some other facts about that team:
2017 should have inarguably been the best, but that loss to MSU eliminated the lit CFP hope and brought them back to the pack with what they actually accomplished on the field.
2019 is likely most unappreciated of the group. They beat as many final ranked teams of any of the others, and had a better record in 1-score games than the others.
None of the seasons definitively standout head and shoulders above the others unfortunately. I’ll cross my fingers 2025 ends at the top after next year.
- Only one to lose to Pitt
- Lost a game by 39 points
- Lost a game when scoring 49 points
2017 should have inarguably been the best, but that loss to MSU eliminated the lit CFP hope and brought them back to the pack with what they actually accomplished on the field.
2019 is likely most unappreciated of the group. They beat as many final ranked teams of any of the others, and had a better record in 1-score games than the others.
None of the seasons definitively standout head and shoulders above the others unfortunately. I’ll cross my fingers 2025 ends at the top after next year.