Penn State Sports Magazine
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Site Lines C O M M E N T S F R O M T H E L I O N S D E N A T B L U E W H I T E I L L U S T R A T E D . C O M JANUARY 2024/VOL. 39, NO. 5 MANAGING EDITOR Matt Herb CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Stu Coman Cathy Jones Chris Riffer WEBSITE PUBLISHER Sean Fitz WEBSITE EDITOR Nate Bauer STAFF WRITER Greg Pickel RECRUITING REPORTER Ryan Snyder FOOTBALL ANALYST Thomas Frank Carr CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jim Carlson PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Althouse, Bill Anderson, Steve Manuel, Mark Selders COVER PHOTO Steve Manuel DESIGN Jeanette Blankenship Chris Miller F F F PUBLISHER Mark Panus BUSINESS MANAGER Linda Autry CIRCULATION MANAGER Crystal Clayton ADVERTISING SALES Maria Taustine (502) 552-4390 CUSTOMER SERVICE Cathy Jones, Stephanie Petchers (800) 421-7751 BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED (USPS 742-550) is published monthly, except June, by Coman Publishing Company, 905 W Main St, Ste 24F, Durham, NC 27701-2076. A one-year (11 issues) subscription is $68.00. First-class, digital and foreign rates available on request. Periodicals postage paid at Durham, NC 27701 and additional mailing offices. Printed by The Papers, Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Please send address corrections/changes to BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. For advertising or subscription informa- tion call 1-919-688-0218 or write BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702. W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ON PENN STATE'S PLACE IN THE BIG TEN HIERARCHY … I think one point that hasn't been talked about enough is how much of a gap Penn State has put between itself and the remaining 11 teams in the conference. To think that Iowa is the fourth-best team and couldn't come close to competing with us is one measure of our improvement. Now, we just have to catch the top two. — NavyBlue Next year, Iowa will be the seventh-best team in the conference, if not eighth. Based upon watching [the Ohio State-Michigan game], we are miles short of where both OSU and U-M are as teams. — Michnit PSU is in a good spot. The larger conference and ex- panded playoff structure changes the dynamic and helps a program like us more than most. You are now in a mas- sive coast-to-coast conference that will be treated more like the NFL. You'll likely no longer be judged against any one opponent or division but by the totality of your work, and it will be about staying consistent and getting to 10-2. … James Franklin has to get the next OC hire right. If he does, the program is in a solid spot to benefit from this next phase. — psu08 Watching Ohio State-Michigan, I certainly believe there is a significant gap between us and them. The week after the Penn State-Ohio State game, Steve Jones said on the pregame show that the only difference between PSU and OSU was Marvin Harrison Jr. At the time, part of me wanted to believe that, but no more. When you watch U-M, any time they need 2 yards or less, they get it. PSU, even with a pretty solid offensive line, struggles. — Ceasar We will compete for a playoff spot every year. We will probably get in more often than not in the seven- to 12-seed range and will probably win some first-round games. If some first-round upsets happen those years, we will have a puncher's chance to win a second game every once in a while. I think that is our ceiling as a program and Franklin's ceiling as a coach. Only a handful of coaches will ever make it to even this level, so we are lucky to have one that is there. — Karl_Havok This is where we need to be to make the push to elite. James Franklin will never get the praise he de- serves. — PSUB1GChampions2024 ON PSU'S DECISION TO PART WAYS WITH MIKE YURCICH … [Yurcich] ran an offense that put up points, and if not for some questionable play-calling during key moments, he may have very well gotten us over the hump. I love that James Franklin has been able to make the hard call in recent years and pull the trigger when necessary for making changes. At the time, Yurcich was a great hire, and now a great fire as well. I'm hopeful with a full budget to work with, Franklin can take the next step and find a guy to get us over the hump (and with a bit of luck, keep Manny Diaz for another year to usher us into the 12-team playoff era with a spark on both sides of the ball). — DRoot4PSU He certainly wasn't a bad hire those first couple years but never stood out as a difference-maker. And then this season … it's been addition by subtraction since he was fired. The one area he was great at was quarterback evaluation/recruiting. I know James Franklin plays a heavy hand in QB recruiting, but Yurcich pulled in some good talent. — PaulPosluvzme I think Yurcich is going to be a guy who goes on to help another team that's been down get to where it's pro- ducing consistent nine- and 10-win seasons. After his first year, Penn State took that next step where we weren't losing games to teams outside the top 10 (Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State, Utah, Auburn). I can totally picture him ending up at a program like Miami or West Virginia, where they go 10-2 without any realistic chance against the big dogs in the conference. But it's time for us to move on and try to get better than that. — LancoLion 4 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 James Franklin's efforts to get Penn State into the College Football Playoff will receive a substantial boost next year when the field expands from four to 12 teams. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL