Will James Franklin, Penn State finally win the big one against Ohio State? ‘I think it’s our time’

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Have you ever heard the sharp crack of white gold against polished wood?

When the giant championship ring on Pat Kraft’s right ring finger hits the conference table in front of him, the sound is unmistakable. Crack!

It is the sound of success, the sound of investment, of tradition, of history. Crack! Crack!

The tune Kraft inadvertently creates this Wednesday afternoon from his athletic director’s office, tucked in the shadow of Beaver Stadium, is a reminder of Penn State’s recent national title. In March, Nittany Lions wrestling won the school’s 90th team championship in its storied history — believed to be the most by a school east of the Mississippi River.

And yet, outside Kraft’s office window, through the fall foliage and against a blue-splattered fall sky, a gigantic structure of steel and concrete rises from the Pennsylvania hills as a reminder of something else: Here, football is king, and it hasn’t delivered a ring in 38 years.

“I get it,” says Kraft, who is entering his third year as athletic director. “We all signed up for it. We all come to Penn State to win national championships. I know (James Franklin) won’t run away from that. I certainly won’t. That’s why I came here and why we’re investing .You don’t come to Penn State to be mediocre.

“Michigan won the national championship last year. Ohio State has been in that mix,” he continues. “I think it’s our time.”

Years behind in facilities and behind in NIL compensation for athletes, Penn State’s leaders believe it has caught up with the elite off the field. It operates out of a renovated football facility, has at its disposal a brand new dining hall, a spectacular weight room and a team of sports performance chefs, academic advisors and mental health specialists. Its name, image and likeness (NIL) payments budget – uncompetitive two years ago – is now very competitive.

On the field, coach James Franklin is in his 11th season and earns $8.5 million a year. He has averaged nine wins per year, has won a conference championship (2016) and has finished in the top 10 four times.

There is only one thing missing from the CV.

On Saturday, the gorilla arrives in this city, which for years has been draped on the backs of those in power here – a scarlet and gray scourge, the curse of Columbus. Not only do the Ohio State Buckeyes serve as a barometer for predicting a season, but they have literally, for more than a decade now, been the obstacle between Penn State and the elusive prize.

Ohio State has won 15 of the last 18 in the series, 11 of the last 12 and seven straight. Franklin is 1-9 against them.

“Nick Saban has changed the way we look at football coaches,” said Brandon Short, a Penn State board member who starred with the Nittany Lions in the late 1990s and played seven years in the NFL. “You can win a national championship once every decade and still be a good program. We have 10-win seasons, but we’ve got to get over the hump. That’s why we’re investing in the program.”

Saturday represents that hump. While Ohio State may have the most talented roster in the country, was a preseason Big Ten favorite and might be the best candidate to win it all, the fourth-ranked Buckeyes (6-1) are struggling. First, they will be without two starting tackles on an offensive line that has shown signs of weakness.

Their defensive secondary was exposed in a top-five matchup earlier this season at Oregon, and their offense struggled in a home game last week against Nebraska.

Is this the year Penn State, perhaps Franklin’s most complete team of his tenure, gets the Buckeyes?

The buzz here at State College is palpable. ESPN’s “College GameDay” is here, as is Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff.” The showing is expected to be a quintessential Big Ten fall masterpiece. The sweeping hills of this place are a seasonal melody of red, yellow and orange. The high on Saturday is a crisp 56 degrees. And kickoff is at noon.

Big game, right? Franklin tries to quell the buzz, and his comments point to a coach who has posted signs all over his facility that read “1-0.”

“West Virginia to open the season was a big game. Bowling Green was a big game. If you don’t think it was, lose to Bowling Green and see how people react,” he said Wednesday. “This is a big game because of how we’ve handled the previous six. We’re not changing our process. I can’t control the noise and things outside of our building.”

No matter how much Franklin tries to load his “1-0” mantra, no matter how many times he states that “they’re all big games,” this one is different — even his players think so. Some have imagined the excitement of a victory Saturday.

“It would be a special feeling that I haven’t felt yet,” said Dvon J-Thomas, PSU’s sixth-year defensive lineman.

Edge rusher Abdul Carter touts the company line — “just another nameless, faceless opponent,” he said — until he doesn’t. “We’re a little pumped up to get this win,” added Carter. “We let it slip away (last year).”

For some, the slide against Ohio State is easily explained. They have had more resources and money, so they have been more talented.

“Ohio State had an operating budget that was $12 million more than Penn State,” Short said. “They spent $12 million more. We’ve always done more with less, but it’s unfair to ask a staff to do that. We’ve worked to close that gap. We’re seeing results on the field.”

The true test on the pitch will come on Saturday. It’s not just about Ohio State. Franklin can snap a different kind of streak.

He hasn’t beaten a team named Ohio State or Michigan since 2020 — a streak of six straight losses. On the flip side, Franklin hasn’t lost to any other team in the regular season over the last three seasons.

“He really puts his all into this program,” says Kraft.

“He’s worked his way into a place that’s not very easy and certainly not easy for him,” says a former Penn State employee who spent many years around Franklin in State College.

Those close to Franklin describe him as calculated and smart, an ultra-competitive person who flirted with other big-name jobs over the years — think USC and Florida State — to leverage them for more resources here in an effort to compete with Ohio State and Michigan’s.

He is very aware of his surroundings, sometimes rattled by headlines and comments directed at him and his program. But his team’s culture, they say here, is elite. He cares about his players. He is passionate about those away from the field – academics, future development.

“I’m proud of the man he is and the leader he is of the program,” Short said. “It’s a family. It’s not lip service.”

All that said, in an industry that has proven to be transient and impatient, 11 years is a long time in one place.

Coaches, even ones like Franklin who average 9-10 wins a year, get fired or retire with too many losses to their rivals. Take former LSU coach Les Miles, for example, who was fired during his 12th season while on a five-game losing streak to Alabama. Or former Georgia coach Mark Richt, who was pushed out in 2015 with a 5-10 record against Florida. And what about Lloyd Carr, who retired after his 13th season at Michigan after losing six of seven to the Buckeyes?

Kraft points to Ohio State’s NIL efforts — the school spends a reported $20 million on its football roster — when discussing the latest skid. He acknowledges that Penn State’s NIL budget is not $20 million. But it is better than it once was. And soon, schools will be allowed to share revenue directly with athletes in a limited system that is expected to bring more balance.

“We were literally nowhere (with NIL) when I got here,” Kraft said. “I think we’re in a really good position now. I think that’s where Ohio State and people we compete with had a leg up. They did good things and were aggressive early.

“We’re at the point now where we know we can go toe to toe with them.”

On Saturday, inside a sold-out Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions can crack the skid? A win means better positioning to advance to the Big Ten championship game, which paves the way for a bye in the expanded College Football Playoff, which in turn sets the program up to get within three wins of that elusive prize: a ring.