For all of James Franklin's success at Penn State -- and he's had plenty of it -- there's been a prevailing narrative that the 11th year coach cannot deliver in crucial moments. The ironic moniker "Big Game James" has been thrown around to ridicule his efforts against top competition, notably in the Big Ten, a conference that he has not won since 2016 and one in which he remains winless against Ohio State and Michigan since 2020.
Amidst the growing cacophony of background noise, Franklin finally delivered Saturday when his Penn State team cruised to a 38-10 win against SMU in the first round of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. It's Penn State's first playoff win in program history and sets up a date with No. 3 seed Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
It's also the signature victory for which Penn State fans have pined for the past few years. Most importantly, Penn State's national title hopes are still alive.
And, impressively, Penn State got the win without playing a complete game. The defense certainly showed up. The Nittany Lions opened a 14-0 lead courtesy of two pick sixes in the first half. Penn State scored 21 of its 28 first-half points as a direct result of forced turnovers.
The usual stars had an impact. All-American edge rusher Abdul Carter had one sack and two tackles for loss and drew a couple of holding penalties as SMU's offensive line struggled to keep him out of the backfield. It was also a coming out party for lesser-heralded players, like former walk-on linebacker Dominic DeLuca, who had two interceptions over the first two quarters.
Penn State's defense picked up the slack for an offense that produced just 109 yards in the second half. Quarterback Drew Allar completed 13 of his 22 passes for 127 yards and didn't account for a single score.
Good teams find ways to win no matter what, and Penn State's win was no fluke; this is a good football team that proved it can compete on college football's biggest stage.
But it didn't completely absolve Franklin of any pressure.
When the initial College Football Playoff bracket was unveiled, the general consensus was that Penn State had one of -- if not the -- easiest paths to the semifinals. The Nittany Lions took their first step by beating an SMU team that finishes the 2024 season without a win against a currently ranked opponent.
Now they draw Boise State, which lost to Oregon in its only game against Power Four competition. The Broncos did take the Ducks to the wire, however, before falling 37-34.
Boise State is, undoubtedly, a great football team. It went undefeated in a strong Mountain West and downed a ranked UNLV team 21-7 in the Mountain West Championship Game. The Broncos are led by Heisman Trophy finalist running back Ashton Jeanty, who is just 131 yards away from breaking Barry Sanders' vaunted single-season rushing record.
That said, there is a significant overall talent disparity between Penn State and Boise State. The Nittany Lions recruit in an entirely different stratosphere while developing players in one of the two strongest conferences in college football.
As such, Penn State opened as an 11.5-point favorite. The perception is that the Nittany Lions should handle this game with relative ease and continue on to the semifinal.
Franklin generated some much-needed goodwill by handling business against SMU. Coming up short in a winnable quarterfinal game, and fumbling Penn State's best path to heights that it's never been in the modern era, would quickly dispel that.