Not overrated: Top Analyst defends James Franklin after Ohio State loss

In a time where everyone around college football is disappointed in James Franklin, this analyst is not. When the Penn State football team was unable to pull off the victory against the Buckeyes, the Penn State community was not happy. It would’ve been different if it was a close game, in which the final score was close. Throughout most of the game, Penn State trailed by one possession. But how the offense played, it felt like a 30-point deficit the whole game. But Josh Pate came to the defense of James Franklin on Sunday night. What he had to say was eye-opening.

Not overrated: Top Analyst defends James Franklin after Ohio State loss

After another loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes, people who are fans of Penn State football or are not have called James Franklin “overrated.” Is it fair to say it at this point? Many wonder if outside of recruiting, Franklin has much more to offer. Well, Josh Pate disagrees with that take. On his latest edition of Late Kick with Josh Pate, he spoke about James Franklin.

Pate said,” The idea that James Franklin is overrated is floating around a lot right now. ..And here is the evidence they give you, he’s 1-9 versus Ohio State, he’s 3-6 versus Michigan, he’s 3-16 against AP Top 10 teams. This is where the bumper sticker logic will get you. Because you say overrated, and this is your evidence. And I ask you, who out there is touting James Franklin as being better than Urban Meyer or Ryan Day? I don’t ever hear anyone say that, so you’re not going to present his record against Ohio State to me. I don’t hear folks telling me that James Franklin is superior to Jim Harbaugh right now, so you’re not going to tout Harbaugh’s record against James Franklin and say he’s overrated. …I had producer Jesse go through McGrady (who does stats and info for us) and find how many of those 19 games Penn State was a point spread favorite in because that’s when you’re overrated. When they’re favoring you to win and you don’t win that’s when you’re overrated. They were favored in 1 of those 19 games and they won the one game they were favored in.”

This analysis is fair, but the question becomes should Penn State want or expect more from their head coach at this point? I will let you be the judge of that.

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