STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State ’s first-ever 16-game season is in the books and the Nittany Lions are the preseason No. 1 in Stewart Mandel’s way-too-early 2025 projections. Of course, there are still gaping holes on this team, notably at wide receiver and with a defensive coordinator who still needs to be hired to replace Tom Allen.

Penn State's historic 2024-25 season comes to an official close with the final US LBM Coaches Poll. See how James Franklin voted.

Franklin and tight ends coach Ty Howle stopped in to see Nazareth 2026 four-star quarterback Peyton Falzone on Tuesday. Falzone is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the nation’s 15th-best quarterback, while he’s visited Penn State twice thus far.

Penn State finished the regular season 11-1, but the “one” was another loss to Ohio State. Franklin is 4-17 against Ohio State and Michigan, his team’s biggest rivals in the Big 10. Penn State had a favorable path to the semifinals, beating SMU and Boise State.

To Penn State fans, James Franklin should be a hero. Penn State made the Big Ten championship game and the College Football Playoff semifinals. Any Penn State supporter would have been salivating at that prospect before the season.

One of the nation's leading college football analysts explains why he picks Penn State as his early No. 1 team in the country for 2025.

This season, the Nittany Lions lost single-possession games to three such teams — Ohio State, Oregon and Notre Dame. Franklin's 34-8 over the last four seasons and has six double-digit win seasons at Penn State since taking over, but being one of the Big Ten's most reliable quality teams is rarely mentioned.

I understand the argument against. Franklin is 101-42 during his time at Penn State and has led them to six 11-win seasons, a Big Ten Championship and a bowl game in every year but one. However, at what point does it get impossible to defend his failure to beat the teams better than Penn State each year?

Penn State ended the 2024 college football season one win shy of playing for a national championship, but the Nittany Lions will close the books on the season with the highest AP ranking for the program under head coach James Franklin. Penn State was ranked no. 5 in the final AP Top 25 poll released on Tuesday.

James Franklin and Penn State capped off their season close to a Natty dream. The post Big Crisis Awaits James Franklin & Penn State As Insider Drops Bombshell After Lincoln Riley’s USC Masterstroke appeared first on EssentiallySports.

Rutgers University head football coach Greg Schiano’s helicopter touched down on the turf at Nazareth Area Middle School on Thursday morning. The Big Ten coach was visiting the Lehigh Valley to meet with Nazareth quarterback Peyton Falzone.

For a program that hasn’t held the No. 1 spot in any poll this century, the buzz surrounding Penn State football is jarring.