Blue White Illustrated

February 2025

Penn State Sports Magazine

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6 2 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M P oised on the brink of a career milestone, James Franklin could hardly have asked for a more dra- matic backdrop. Penn State was getting set to make its College Football Playoff debut, and it was doing so in Beaver Stadium, in front of a White Out crowd in exactly the sort of frigid, blustery weather that so often makes for legendary games. Franklin reached his milestone, win- ning his 100th game at Penn State. The Nittany Lions built a 28-0 halftime lead over SMU thanks largely to a pair of pick sixes by linebackers Tony Rojas and Dominic DeLuca, then kept the Mus- tangs at arm's length the rest of the way, prevailing, 38-10. Legendary is perhaps not a word that anyone would use to describe such a lopsided contest, but the postgame scene was jubilant, and Franklin's accomplishment was a small part of the celebratory vibe. A very small part, to hear Franklin tell it. When a reporter asked him during the postgame presser about winning 100 games at Penn State, he quickly steered the discussion to his players and assistant coaches. "I appreciate you bringing up the 100 wins and all that kind of stuff," he said, "but I'm at a point in my career where it's all about the players and the staff. It's cool that [cornerbacks coach] Terry Smith has been there for every single one of them, [strength and conditioning coach] Chuck Losey, every single one of them. That's cool." Franklin might not have been think- ing much about personal accomplish- ments with a CFP quarterfinal game against Boise State looming just 10 days after the win over SMU. Still, the victory did put him in an exclusive fraternity at Penn State. Since PSU began playing intercolle- giate football in 1887, only three coaches have won 100 games at the school. Top- ping that list is, of course, Joe Paterno, with 409 wins from 1966-2011. Before Paterno took charge of the program, his mentor, Rip Engle won 104 games from 1950-65. That's it. That's the fraternity. The fact that so few PSU coaches have reached the 100-win plateau is partly a result of their longevity. That might seem paradoxical, but Penn State simply hasn't had a lot of head football coaches, especially during the modern era. Since 1950, only four men have served as full-time head coaches for the Nit- tany Lions. It's an astonishing testa- ment to the program's stability, and while it's mostly due to Paterno's never- to-be-equaled 46-year tenure, Engle and Franklin have also been long-term successes. The former coached for 16 years, and the latter has now been on the job for 11, with no indication that his tenure is anywhere close to its end. The only modern-era Penn State coach to spend less than a decade on the job is Bill O'Brien, and the only reason he lasted just two years was because he received an offer to become head coach of the Houston Texans after guiding the sanction-depleted Lions to a 15-9 re- cord in 2012 and '13. That kind of stability is rare even at blue-blood programs. Since 1950, Ohio "I appreciate you bringing up the 100 wins and all that kind of stuff, but I'm at a point in my career where it's all about the players and the staff." F R A N K L I N TURN OF THE CENTURY James Franklin joined an exclusive club when he earned his 100th victory at Penn State M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M In the locker room after their 38-10 victory over SMU, players presented Franklin with a commemorative jersey and game ball in honor of his 100th win at Penn State. PHOTO BY LEIGHTON SMITHWICK/PENN STATE ATHLETICS

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