Franklin quiets critics as PSU wins CFP opener
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David Hale, ESPN Staff Writer
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — It was exactly the type of moment that would’ve fueled underpinned every criticism leveled at Penn State coach James Franklin, college football’s standard bearer for the “best coach who hasn’t won the big one” label.
Facing a fourth-and-1 at his own 19, up 14 with 9:30 to play in the first half of Penn State’s first-round playoff game against SMU, Franklin left his offense on the field. The unit had done little through three prior drives, but two pick sixes by the defense had the crowd of 106,000 on its feet and SMU on its heels. Now, here was Franklin, rolling the dice in a moment that might be a red carpet for the Mustangs to march back into the game.
And, as it’s gone so many times when Penn State has stared victory in the biggest moments in the face, the call backfired.
“I bet you were tweeting your tail off,” Franklin joked to media when asked about the play afterward.
So, here he was again: Franklin outsmarting himself, stubbing his toes in a critical moment, a decision that would surely doom Penn State again.
Only this time, the story ended differently, and looking back, it was a call that set the tone for what proved to be a dominant 38-10 Penn State win.
Four plays after the doomed fourth-down try, with SMU facing a second-and-goal at the 7, Dom DeLuca picked off a Kevin Jennings pass, the Nittany Lions offense roared to life on the ensuing drive, and a 25-yard Kaytron Allen touchdown delivered what felt like a mortal wound to SMU’s comeback hopes.
“I told the guys we were going to call the game aggressively,” Franklin said. “I wanted them to play aggressively. Don’t play on your heels, play on your toes. Fourth-and-1, I can’t say that all week long and then not do it.”
Saturday’s win — Penn State’s first in the College Football Playoff, and just the sixth in 28 tries against top-12 teams in Franklin’s Nittany Lions tenure — had the feel of a turning point for a program dogged by the criticism that it comes up small too often in the biggest moments.
It was an emphatic statement. It was a big win. And for Franklin, it was victory No. 100 at Penn State.
“Coach Franklin, he gets a lot of criticism that’s undeserved,” Penn State QB Drew Allar said. “He’s done a lot more than people give him credit for. Winning his 100th game is special, and to be a part of that and the team that delivered that 100th win for him and to have it on a stage like the playoffs, at home in Beaver Stadium, it’s truly special.”
The win sets up Penn State for a date with third-seeded Boise State at the VRBO Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31, another opportunity for a signature victory, but in the aftermath of Saturday’s win against SMU, the Nittany Lions were hardly thumping their chests or thumbing their nose at critics of the program.
Instead, it was a moment of celebration.
“I remember in training camp talking to the guys that, I wanted these type of moments for them,” Franklin said. “It’s emotional for all of us. … I appreciate the 100 wins and all that, but to me, I’m at a point in my career, it’s all about the players and the staff.”
And yet it was Franklin’s gamble deep in his own territory, risking all the proverbial momentum on a fourth-and-1, that ultimately sparked life into his offense and secured the outcome.
That the snap was fumbled and the fourth-down try failed will be a fact lost to history should Penn State keep winning. What’s worth remembering, said offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicky, is that neither Franklin nor his team showed a shred of hesitation in making the call.
“He doesn’t get enough credit for what he’s done here consistently,” Kotelnicki said of Franklin.
Penn State is now 12-2 on the season, the program’s first 12-win campaign since 1994. Franklin’s team has won 33 games over the past three seasons. And yet, the absence of marquee wins over Big Ten rivals Michigan and Ohio State and a 2-15 record against top-12 opponents since 2018 has been a dose of cold water on an otherwise historic run.
Allar said he’s used to hearing the grumbling, but Saturday’s playoff game was never about dispelling a narrative or getting Franklin to win No. 100.
“We don’t take these moments for granted, but I don’t care what anybody says from the outside,” said Allar, who threw for 127 yards, ran for 70 and scored twice on the ground. “There’s a lot of people out there that don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. That’s part of playing at a place like Penn State, but it’s part of sticking to our guns and sticking to our process.”
That process, Franklin said, begins anew Sunday.
If a playoff win helped begin to pry a proverbial monkey off his back, the job won’t be finished until Penn State has a national championship trophy, and so the biggest game Franklin wants to win is the next one, he said.
“A lot of college coaches talking about this being a four-game season. It’s not,” Franklin said. “It’s a one-game season. … How you value those reps, how you prepare, will give you an opportunity to play again. We’re in a one-game season and we just extended our season one more game.”
The San Francisco Giants are acquiring All-Star slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday evening.
The Giants are sending starter Jordan Hicks and 23-year-old lefty Kyle Harrison, among others, to Boston in exchange, sources said.
Devers, 28, is in just the second season of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract he signed to stay in Boston in January 2023, however his relationship with the team suffered a significant blow after the star third baseman was reportedly blindsided by a move to designated hitter in the spring.
Tensions flared again last month after Devers refused an offer from the team to move him to first base after starting first baseman Triston Casas was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.
It reached a point where Red Sox owner John Henry met with the disgruntled star, making a rare trip to meet the team on the road and smooth things over after Devers’ pointed comments about the request to switch positions again.
Hicks and Harrison give a pitching-starved Red Sox team more depth on their staff while Devers provides a huge boost to a middling Giants offense.
Devers has more than 200 career home runs to his name and has a .894 OPS for Boston this season.
The deal was first reported by Fansided.
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Alden Gonzalez
Shohei Ohtani‘s pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers might be quickly approaching.
Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday that Ohtani would throw another simulated game in the coming days that could “potentially” be his last one, and a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney that Ohtani should join the Dodgers’ rotation “sooner rather than later,” potentially within the week.
Ohtani took a big step forward during his most recent simulated game at Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three innings against a couple of lower-level minor league players. Ohtani’s fastball reached the mid- to upper-90s, and he exhibited good command of his off-speed pitches in what amounted to his third time facing hitters. Afterward, Roberts said there was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could join the rotation before the All-Star break.
Because of his two-way designation, the Dodgers can carry Ohtani as an extra pitcher, which means he can throw two to three innings and have someone pitch after him as a piggyback starter. At this point, it seems that is the Dodgers’ plan.
The Dodgers’ pitching staff has again been plagued by injury, with 14 pitchers on the injured list, including four starting pitchers the team was heavily counting on for 2025 — Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin, Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow.
If Ohtani returns in July — the likely outcome at this point — he will be 22 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament.
The update isn’t as optimistic for Sasaki. He paused his throwing program and is set for a lengthy layoff. Sasaki has not pitched in a game since May 9 and is not part of the team’s long-term pitching plans this season.
“I think that’s what the mindset should be,” Roberts said. “Being thrust into this environment certainly was a big undertaking for him, and now you layer in the health part and the fact he’s a starting pitcher, knowing what the build-up [required to return] entails … I think that’s the prudent way to go about it.”
Sasaki, 23, went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts after joining the Dodgers from the Pacific League’s Chuba Lotte Marines, averaging less than 4⅓ innings per start. He walked 22 and struck out 24 in 34⅓ innings, and his fastball averaged 95.7 mph, down 3-4 mph from his average in Japan.
Roberts said Sasaki was pain free when he resumed throwing in early June, but the pitcher was shut down after feeling discomfort this past week. Sasaki recently received a cortisone injection in the shoulder; Roberts said no further scans are planned.
“I don’t think it’s pain,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s discomfort, if it’s tightness, if he’s just not feeling strong, whatever the adjective you want to use. That’s more of a question for Roki, as far as the sensation he’s feeling.
“He’s just not feeling like he can ramp it up, and we’re not going to push him to do something he doesn’t feel good about right now.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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