For years, Penn State was the poster child for the 12-team College Football Playoff. Or rather, Penn State was the example cited to explain the need for the expanded Playoff and why increased access mattered.
No program that never made it would have qualified for the 12-team field more often than the Nittany Lions over the past decade, had the bracket been set up the way it is now instead of as a four-team invitational. Penn State was always close but not close enough. The Nittany Lions had great seasons — but not championship-caliber ones. Blame Ohio State. Blame Michigan. Honestly? Blame the system, too.
With the barriers to entry cleared, it was no surprise that Penn State didn’t just make the first 12-team field, it cruised into the bracket as the second highest-ranked at-large team. The Nittany Lions were seeded sixth and given what turned out be the easiest draw through the first two rounds of the postseason. Penn State dispatched SMU and Boise State with relative ease.
Here comes the hard part.
James Franklin and his Nittany Lions are just two wins away from being national champions. But they’ll have to go through Notre Dame and the winner of Texas-Ohio State to do it, no easy task. They kick off against the Irish at the Orange Bowl Thursday night in the first of the two national semifinal games.
This is the stage on which Penn State sought to stand. These are the games that count more than others, especially for a coach with a 1-14 record vs. AP top-five teams during his tenure. Boise State and SMU were ranked ninth and 10th, respectively, by the CFP selection committee. Notre Dame was fifth.
This is the chance for Franklin to change the narratives that surround him and his program. This is an opportunity for either Notre Dame or Penn State to prove that it belongs among college football’s most elite.
A great deal of ink has been spilled over the Irish, who beat Georgia in the quarterfinals to earn their biggest postseason win in decades. Ohio State and Texas have been considered national championship favorites since August. Of the four teams left standing, it is Penn State, which has the longest odds to win this whole thing, that has been discussed the least.
But here are the Nittany Lions, rounding into form at precisely the right time as they try to win the program’s first national championship since . Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman knows that.
“This is a very disciplined, tough football team, a very creative offense that utilizes a bunch of different personnel, a bunch of different formations,” Freeman said. “They’re going to force you to be extremely disciplined in terms of your eyes and your adjustments in terms of defensive football. I think their tight end, (Tyler) Warren, is one of the best players in college football period, regardless of position.
“Both of their running backs are extremely good players, and both of them are home-run threats. They’re power runners, they’ve got speed, good balance, they’re tough. I think they’re extremely talented players, and the quarterback is playing as well as he has all season.”
While all of that is true — Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen are both 1,000-yard rushers, and quarterback Drew Allar had some sensational moments against Boise State — those facts also prompt questions about the way first-year offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki calls games. Sometimes, it’s like he gets too cute and gimmicky instead of simply relying on the run when it’s working well. But it’s also the offense that got Penn State to the precipice of a trip to the national championship game.
“The creativity we want, and that’s a big reason why he’s here,” Franklin said. “The explosive plays, which are typically tied to the creative plays. … When it works, everybody thinks it’s the great decision. The double pass to Tyler Warren to throw back — if that didn’t work against USC, they would say, ‘Oh, my God they tried to get too cute,’ right?
“For us, we work at these things. We want to be aggressive. We want it to be just part of our identity; this is what we do. And I think it creates a lot more headaches for the defensive coordinator, and the defensive staff that’s trying to prepare for these things.”
Last season, Penn State ranked 97th in the nation in plays from scrimmage that went at least 20 yards (with 47). This year, the Nittany Lions rank 20th (with 72 such plays).
“That’s probably the biggest difference in our offense this year, the explosive plays,” Franklin said. He said that’s why he hired Kotelnicki away from Kansas in the first place.
Penn State has had an elite defense filled with future pros for years — and this year’s unit is no different, led by Abdul Carter, who is hoping to be healthy enough to play in Thursday’s semifinal. The difference between a very good season and a special one needs to come on the offensive side of the ball. Coaching is critically important, too.
The Nittany Lions have posted double-digit win totals in six of Franklin’s 11 seasons at Penn State. They’ve never won 13 games in a single season before now. But No. 14 is the one that matters most, both because it’s the next one and because it’s a big one.
And that’s what this expanded Playoff is all about. More teams get to participate, but it still matters most what you do when the lights are the brightest. It’s time for Penn State to walk into that spotlight.
