Penn State has had its ups and downs this season but most recently came away encouraged from a 31-30 win over Maryland that was boosted by Christian Hackenberg and the big-play passing attack. Coach James Franklin talked about that strategy and the health of Saquon Barkley this week, and Bob Shoop broke down his defense in the advance of today’s game against Illinois.
Penn State has the No. 4 recruiting class in the country in 2016, a group of 19 verbal commitments that could be coach James Franklin’s best collection of talent since arriving in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions are still within arm’s reach to a number of high-profile targets but also have work to do to retain commits such as Lavert Hill, Quinn Nordin and Miles Sanders. Michigan is a big…
Penn State plays host to Illinois at Beaver Stadium and enters the contest as a 5 1/2-point favorite. The Nittany Lions are unbeaten at home (5-0) this season and face a pesky Illini squad that is winless on the road (0-2) but has managed to stay competitive in Big Ten play with a win over Nebraska (14-13) and losses to unbeaten Iowa (29-20) and Wisconsin (24-13). The Illini pose challenges…
Penn State’s James Franklin says he’s not going anywhere, and he’s passionately refuted any indication that he’s interested in leaving. Franklin was linked to the vacancy at Miami this week in a report from Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, which prompted a vehement denial from the coach that ended with, “This is where I want to be.” Franklin is 6-2 at Penn State this season and owns a 13-8 record in…
James Franklin shutting down rumors of him possibly being interested in the Miami opening
Bob Flounders reports to us with some of the takeaways from Franklin’s press conference this week.
Penn State edged Maryland 31-30 in Baltimore on Saturday.
Penn State travels to Baltimore Saturday for a rematch with Maryland, which beat the Nittany Lions in Beaver Stadium last season and refused to shake hands in doing so. The Terrapins enter this one as 6 1/2-point underdogs and coming off a bye week of turmoil with the firing of coach Randy Edsall. Penn State has had its share of struggles but enters this contest at M&T Bank Stadium in…
The play of quarterback Christian Hackenberg has been a running theme for the better part of two Penn State seasons. He’s an NFL talent who seemingly lost his way under James Franklin following a promising freshman season under former coach Bill O’Brien. Hackenberg’s game has been picked apart and stacked against his impressive physical tools ad nauseam since the end of his sophomore season.
Penn State and Pitt don’t resume their intrastate rivalry until next season, but Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi is stoking the fire now. He took thinly veiled shots at the Nittany Lions coaching staff in reference to Christian Hackenberg this week, saying, “You could have a talented quarterback with a bad play caller and make him look bad. You see that around the country, some closer than others.” Penn State coach…
Two years into coach James Franklin’s tenure, his offense still has far more questions than answers. And as the Nittany Lions struggle, blame falls on Franklin, offensive coordinator John Donovan, the offensive line and quarterback Christian Hackenberg. But what is the biggest problem in a sputtering passing attack, the scheme or Hackenberg’s execution? Hackenberg was asked to do very little in a 38-10 loss at Ohio State, completing 7 of…
Franklin press conference takeaways.
Looking at the PSU Offense’s Struggle to score on the road.
Recapping the PSU 38-10 Loss to Ohio State in Columbus.