James Franklin gives his take on what Penn State proved on its run

The 2024 season marked the first year that the Penn State Nittany Lions went to the College Football Playoff. Once they made it into the Playoff, the Nittany Lions were able to make some noise, with head coach James Franklin leading them to a pair of wins.

In the Orange Bowl, which acted as a semifinal for the College Football Playoff, Penn State came up short of Notre Dame in a very close game. It would be the end of Penn State’s season but it was also a season and run in the Playoff that proved a lot about the program.

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“When you’re talking about a 16-week season that we have now in college football, there’s opportunities to bounce back from setbacks,” James Franklin said after the Orange Bowl. “Notre Dame was able to do it, and we were able to do it. Kept getting better as the season went on, got better, especially the second half of the season. Some big wins, some adversity that we were able to overcome, and the guys just kept battling.”

One common critique of James Franklin and Penn State has been an inability to win big games. That reared its head earlier in the season when the Nittany Lions lost to Ohio State and then again in the Big Ten Championship Game when they lost to Oregon. Still, the Nittany Lions rallied to win a pair of Playoff games.

“I could not be prouder of the young men in that locker room and the staff and how they represented Penn State and the Big Ten all season long. They deserve a ton of credit,” Franklin said.

“Obviously, we would have loved an opportunity to get a win tonight and then be able to watch the game tomorrow night and figure out who our next opponent was going to be. But again, very, very proud of our guys.”

James Franklin states 128 teams would ‘give their right arm’ for Penn State’s season

There are 134 FBS football teams and it’s difficult to find teams who had better seasons than Penn State did with the Nittany Lions making it all the way to the semifinal of the College Football Playoff. It was such a good season that James Franklin figures 128 teams would like to change places with them.

“The sun will come up tomorrow, and the one thing I want to make sure that all those guys do is walk out of that locker room with their heads high and their chests out because they have a ton to be proud of,” Franklin said.

“There’s about 128 teams that would give their right arm to have the season that we just had this year. It doesn’t feel that way right now, but there’s a ton to be proud of.”

Penn State finished the 2024 season going 13-3 and 11-1 in the regular season. 13 wins was the most of any individual season in program history.