Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1538407
SEPTEMBER 2025/VOL. 41, NO. 1 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 Steve Manuel, Mark Selders, Frank Hyatt COVER PHOTO Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics DESIGN Jeanette Blankenship Chris Miller F F F PUBLISHER Mark Panus BUSINESS ANALYST Sarah Boone CIRCULATION COORDINATOR Beverly Taylor ADVERTISING SALES Maria Taustine (502) 552-4390 CUSTOMER SERVICE Lauren Gordon, Shelby Cragg, Cathy Jones (800) 421-7751 BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED (USPS 742-550) is published monthly, except June, by Coman Publishing Co., a division of On3 Media, Inc., located at 905 W. Main St., Suite 24F, Durham, NC 27701. 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 correc- tions/changes to BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. For advertising or subscription information call 1-919-688-0218 or write BLUE WHITE ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham NC 27702-2331. 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 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ON THE PERCEPTION THAT PENN STATE 'CAN'T WIN THE BIG ONE' … The national media forgets two things: 1. We never had the depth of an Ohio State. We still don't. They are a recruiting machine. We CAN win on occasion, and I hope this is THAT year. The gap is smaller but still remains. 2. James Franklin, until the last few years, never had a president or an AD that actually LIKED foot- ball. They both would have preferred to be Stan- ford. I DO believe we will be better with more support from the university. We cannot build the kind of machine that an Ohio State has, but we can win on a series of cycles. — Stephen Light I think Franklin is a victim of his own success building a competitive team from lesser talent. People don't realize it when they're watching our games against better teams. All they see and know is that we keep it close, maybe lead later in the game, only to lose in the end. The facts are what they are. He has a bad record against top teams, but the narrative should be different than it is. The narrative should be how competitive Penn State has been despite having lesser talent. — PhillipintheValley I'm frustrated about the "can't win the big game" narrative even though there's truth to it. BUT where PSU doesn't get enough credit is in their ability to consistently beat teams ON THEIR LEVEL or worse. Let's face it, if we played more teams ranked in the 10-25 range, I think our record would more than match up. Specifically, where PSU has been short is top-10 matchups against teams that on paper are BETTER than us. We just don't seem capable of pulling those upsets that would garner us far more respect. — MD1979 The Franklin era has really just been a long ladder. First, he couldn't beat ranked teams. Then he had a poor record on the road vs. ranked teams. Then he couldn't beat top-10 teams. Now, he can't beat top-5 teams. It's been a loooong climb, but I'm hoping this is the year all the nar- ratives get put to bed. — PSUJD What's troubling is that we have had a 10-point lead in many of the games we ended up losing under Coach Franklin. — RunTheBall There were some good opportunities for a marquee win in the last few years: 2021 Michigan, 2023 Michigan, 2024 Ohio State and 2024 Notre Dame all really stick out as ones that got away. There has to be a breakthrough against Oregon or OSU this year ... right? Right??? — DC174ever I'll say it again, this team will go 12-0 and play for the Big Ten title. Take that to the bank and tell 'em Karl sent ya. — Karl_Havok ON THIS YEAR'S NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULE … For me, it's the time investment. It's really hard to justify leaving my house at 3:30 a.m. and driving 3.5 hours so I can try and tailgate a bit before a noon kickoff vs. FIU/Nevada/G5 school. It's a me problem, 100 percent, and it's a first world problem. But baking on a metal bleacher stuffed between two portly individuals with someone's knees jamming into my back watching some mediocre OOC game and then turning the car around and doing the whole thing back that night — it's hard. — istlion I understand all the reasoning for the current nonconference schedule, but it was awesome playing Pitt, Auburn, WVU, etc., early in the season. Even if it's a semi-regional opponent like Temple, Syracuse or Boston College, it would be very exciting for fans. I also know I would be the first person to criticize them for losing to Syracuse in September, so I get it. — Dsmeltz2 4 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 5 James Franklin is looking to guide Penn State back to the College Football Playoff after his Nittany Lions reached the semifinals in their first-ever appearance. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL