James Franklin opens up on Penn State's Big Ten rivalries

Rivalries are one of the best parts of college sports. They’re a critical element that helps to separate college football from the pros. The intensity of the rivalries and the passion of the fans centered around those rivalries is a massive part of what makes college sports so great. Recently at Big Ten Media Days, Penn State head football coach James Franklin opened up on the different rivalries for the Nittany Lions.

“Yeah, I think I kind of look at those teams in our conference as really good teams that we’ve competed with for a long time and have had great games. To me, that word is different. I think there seems to be a lot of people trying to create those things. And it’s funny, when I first got to Penn State they were having this discussion about a rival. Well, why? Well, we’re not an original Big Ten team,” Franklin continued.

“We were independent for a long, long time. Then you join a conference and then people try to create rivalries that really weren’t there. Just like everybody wanted to tell me about our rivalry with Pitt, which I agree with geographically. But literally up ’til we played them a few years ago, none of our players had ever seen a Penn State–Pitt rivalry game in their lifetime. So, I just think these games are important,” the Nittany Lions head man said.

“They’re big games. They’re important for the Big Ten. They’re important for our teams individually as well. But to me, there shouldn’t have to be discussions on is this team a rival or not. If they’re a rival, everybody knows that, in my opinion,” Franklin said.

He brings up an excellent point about people trying to create rivalries. It makes the games more exciting and interesting for everybody involved. No question about it.

For more from James Franklin from Big Ten Media Days, check out the article below from On3’s Andrew Graham.

Franklin is in no rush to name a starting quarterback

Penn State and head coach James Franklin are eyeing big goals in 2023. The Nittany Lions have a loaded roster and are a trendy pick to win the Big Ten East and make the College Football Playoff.

But there’s one big question remaining: Who will be the starting quarterback? Franklin and Co. are likely picking between two relatively unknown quantities in Drew Allar and Beau Pribula. While many expect that Allar will ascend into the starting role, it doesn’t seem a decision has been made yet.

A 2023 Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday, Franklin said he’s hoping to make a call on the starting quarterback sooner, rather than later.

“Obviously the sooner the better. But we’re not going to rush any of these decisions at any of these positions. We grade everything and every practice, so all the data will be there. Obviously you’re going to trust your gut and your instincts on those things, as well, but you have the data to back it up. But I think at any of these positions, the sooner the better,” Franklin said.

Franklin said that while there are a number of other position battles Penn State is trying to sort out — like who will form the top receiver grouping — the quarterback choice is magnified by the way it impacts the whole team and the lack of rotation at the position.

The goal is to pick a guy and have him be the guy without any seeds of doubt.

“It’s probably magnified at the quarterback position because you don’t rotate and play the same type of way that you do at some other positions. But it’ll be, obviously, watching how they move the offense,” Franklin said, “the confidence that their teammates have in them and then obviously a lot of the data and analytics go into it as well to make sure that what your gut is telling you aligns with what the numbers say.”

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this article.