James Franklin: Peach Bowl is chance for Penn State football to ‘gain momentum’ for 2024

We are just days away from watching Penn State football take the field one final time this year. But Saturday’s Peach Bowl matchup against the No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels is about more than putting the finishing touches on the 2023 season. It’s also an opportunity for the Nittany Lions to hit the ground running for 2024. On Tuesday, James Franklin discussed what a win in Atlanta could mean for his program during a fundamentally transformational offseason in college football.

James Franklin says Peach Bowl can help Penn State football “gain momentum” for 2024

College football will look drastically different next September than at any point in its history. The Big Ten will begin its westward expansion to the Pacific Ocean. SMU and Stanford will play in the same league – logically, that will be the Atlantic Coast Conference. And the College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams, most likely putting the Penn State Nittany Lions in the thick of a championship hunt next December.

So, in a lot of ways, this year’s bowl season isn’t merely about capping off 2023. For many programs, it’s about heading into the new landscape of the sport with a solid footing.

During Peach Bowl media availability on Tuesday, James Franklin was asked about what a win on Saturday could mean for the Nittany Lions at this watershed mark in the sport. While the Penn State football coach avoided calling the game a springboard for a potential Playoff run in 2024, he did comment on how a win against Ole Miss can help put the Nittany Lions on the right path to achieving their goals in 2024.

“I think these bowl games in a lot of ways, they are obviously the ending point of your season; that’s obvious. But I do think there’s a lot of discussion, and you can also make the argument they’re the first game of next season for you,” Franklin said.

“You’re probably going to have some situations where you’re going to have some players that maybe were playing complementary roles for most of the season [that] are going to have bigger roles in this game,” he continued. “So that’s an opportunity for them. It’s also an opportunity for the coaches to have them ready to play. That’s part of it. That’s part of this bowl season.

“So, yeah, there’s a lot to be said that this is the finishing touches of last season, but I think there’s also an opportunity for us to get some momentum from this going into next season, and some of the guys that are going to play bigger roles on Saturday are obviously going to play bigger roles next year.”

Playing for a new audience

Beyond what playing well could mean for Penn State football on the field, James Franklin also touched on what playing in Atlanta — the de facto heart of SEC country and home of college football — means from a brand perspective.

“…Being able to come down into SEC country and allow maybe some people to see us that normally wouldn’t see us, specifically live rather than on TV,” he said. “No different than us going to Auburn two years ago and playing well.

“I think maybe a portion of the country got a chance to see us live that normally doesn’t see us live and say, hey, Big Ten plays good football, and Penn State plays really good football, and we got the chance to see that firsthand. I think there’s value in that as well.”

Penn State football will take on Ole Miss in the 2023 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Saturday at noon in Mercedes Benz Stadium.

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