James Franklin has an opportunity today to earn some semi-redemption in the minds of Penn State fans; it is a long-shot, though



… Lions are a 13-point underdog to Michigan

Penn State football fans are still upset with James Franklin over his team blowing a 12-point lead in the final eight+ minutes of the Ohio State game — at home. Then, he followed that with a loss to Michigan State, which pretty much shattered all of the dreams of the PSU fans for a playoff berth this year.

However, Franklin has an opportunity to make that up to the Nittany Nation faithful, to earn a sense of semi-redemption. However, as his team enters the Big House in Ann Arbor, they are 13-point underdogs to the Wolverines. Long-shot at best.

So, what are the positives and the insurmountable for Franklin today?

How good is Michigan — and the Big Ten?

The question about the Wolverines is just how good they are. The conference itself does not have an undefeated team now. The Wolverines lost to a Notre Dame team in the opener, one that is still undefeated. However, there are questions about how good that Fighting Irish team is, too.

Then, Michigan was forced to charge from behind to upend Northwestern, 20-17, in late September. Northwestern has a good team, but a great one? The Wolverines were down 17-0 in the first half before narrowing the advantage to 17-7 at the half.

The Michigan defense, which has some very good numbers, managed to shut out NW in the second half. However, they did not seal the win until they scored with 4:06 left in the game.

The only other win that could be considered good was defeating Wisconsin, but Paul Chryst’s team is no longer even in the Top 25.

So, from that vantage point, the Nittany Lions can say that they beat the only good team in the Big Ten, Ohio State. That is a reach after Purdue nailed the Buckeyes by 29 points to give them two losses and eliminate them from playoff contention. However, it is an argument since Michigan has not really played a tough schedule.

Problems for Franklin

However, Franklin’s problem is with his own team. Inconsistency has been the problem, along with some pretty poor tackling that proved to be costly in the loss to Ohio State.

And Penn State is young, but that is not going to help them today.

They have quarterback Trace McSorley who is a winner. However, once a top candidate for the coveted Heisman Trophy, McSorley is now listed in a tie for tenth in this week’s ESPN experts’ poll. Seven QBs are ahead of him, and that is what happens when you lose a couple of games.

Still, McSorley can still make things happen, and that is positive.

However, overall, the Lions do not have the marquee players, though no one from Michigan is on the Heisman list at all.

Cost of a loss

Will a loss to Michigan result in the Nittany Lions, now ranked 14th in both polls, dropping out of the Top 25 like Wisconsin (5-3 overall) has? That could happen, but it will depend upon how close the game is. Franklin has to make this a battle to stay relevant in 2018.

After the Ohio State loss, he called the Nittany Lions a “great” team, one that had to learn to move to “elite” status. A win over Michigan could give him claim to regain that “great” mantle, though in reality, those labels are best used after the season has ended.

Franklin has elevated the PSU program after some devastating sanctions. Having back to back 11-2 seasons gave him credibility. He does not want to lose that, but a third loss with some tough games on the horizon could be problematic for him.

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