James Franklin evaluates where Penn State stands in college football power structure

Penn State has enjoy a 21-5 record under James Franklin over the past two seasons — but despite winning double-digit games in both years, the Nittany Lions don’t have much hardware to show for it.

Coinciding with the rise of Michigan football, the Nittany Lions have seemingly taken a back seat to the Wolverines and Ohio State in the Big Ten during that two-year span.

At a number of other schools across the country, a stretch like that would be program-shifting. At Penn State, it’s still not enough.

“You’re talking about a program that you can win 10 or 11 games and people are not happy or satisfied,” Franklin said. “That’s inside the Lasch building and that’s outside of the Lasch building. We totally get that and embrace that. I think our players understand that when we recruit them. Our staff understands that when we hire them. And as the head coach, I embrace all those things as well.

“I think week in and week out, the Big Ten is arguably the best conference in all of college football. I’ve been fortunate to be a head coach in the SEC as well as the Big Ten, so I think I’ve got good perspective on that.”

Adding the likes of Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA to the conference only further solidifies Franklin’s perspective. The Nittany Lions will meet the Trojans and Bruins in consecutive weeks during the upcoming regular season.

“We want to play those teams that you discussed, both that have been in the conference historically as well as those that have been added. For us, we’ve got to play our best when our best is needed most, in the biggest games, at the biggest moments,” Franklin continued. “I think, if you look at us specifically last year, did some phenomenal things.”

Franklin specifically pointed out the strong quarterback play they received from Drew Allar last season.

“That’s the step that we need to take, and having a returning starting quarterback obviously helps with that,” he said. “We’re a quarterback-driven game, whether it’s in the NFL, college, or high school, and having a returning quarterback at that position that did some phenomenal things — I think he was second in touchdown to interception ratio. I think he broke the national record in completions without an interception. So did some phenomenal things. We’ve got to build on that.”

Franklin said that once the Nittany Lions build the talent surrounding Allar, there may not be much in the way of stopping Penn State this season. The PSU headman believes they may have their bases covered in that regard as well.