2 weeks Ago
By Sean Labar The Big Ten is clearly the best conference in college football behind the SEC . With the new additions of Oregon, USC, Washington, and UCLA, the conference has already gotten even more competitive than it’s been with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Iowa having the most success over the last few decades. Since 2016, only Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan have been crowned as the conference champion, with the Buckeyes having the most Big Ten titles during that span (5).
But as the 2024 regular season dwindles down and the 12-team College Football Playoff will be decided within the next month, is Penn State — led by James Franklin — better off right now than Ohio State with Ryan Day as the Buckeyes’ head coach? The Case For Ryan Day Day took over a program that Urban Meyer built into one of the biggest powerhouses in the country. From 2012 to 2018, Meyer finished every season with at least 12 wins except 2016, when the Buckeyes finished (11-2). In his first season in Columbus in 2012, Meyer led Ohio State to a perfect (12-0) record but the program was ineligible to compete for a national championship due to sanctions that came from the Jim Tressell era.
In 2014, Meyer led the Buckeyes to a College Football Playoff championship in the first season the NCAA switched from the BCS model to the 4-team playoff. Meyer led Ohio State to 5-straight Big Ten East Division crowns following the national title win, but was placed on administrative leave due to his alleged knowledge of a domestic abuse situation involving one of his assistants and him never speaking up/denying he had knowledge. So in 2018, Ryan Day — who was the offensive coordinator — took over as interim head coach.
In 2019, he took over as the Ohio State head coach after Meyer announced his retirement. On paper, Day’s accomplishments are impressive. He boasts a 62-9 overall record as the Buckeyes’ head coach and has led Ohio State to the College Football Playoff final four, reaching the championship game in 2020.
He has consistently produced top recruiting classes — and even in the era of NIL and the transfer portal — Day has adapted. He added QB Will Howard in the offseason after losing Kyle McCord and the Buckeyes have the No. 2 recruiting class for 2025.
The Case Against Ryan Day Ohio State fans and boosters expect to win national championships on a regular basis. Jim Tressell laid the foundation and led the Buckeyes to two national championships they lost, but Meyer set the standard in 2014. While Day has had tremendous regular season success with three-straight (11-2) seasons, the Buckeyes haven’t been able to bring home a College Football Championship trophy despite reaching the 4-team playoff three times under Day.
Even more notable, Michigan has beaten Ohio State the last three seasons which is viewed as bad — or worse — than losing a national championship. Day has every resource at his disposal and consistently attracts the top talent in the country, but seems to struggle to lead the Buckeyes to success when it matters most. Once again, Ohio State is prepping for a must-win road trip against Penn State, with a loss meaning the Buckeyes could miss out on the College Football Playoff.
It’s a given the Buckeyes have to beat Michigan this year and they should be heavy favorites and get it done, but if Ohio State somehow misses the 12-team College Football Playoff, the fan base will get impatient and Day’s leash will only get tighter. © Brooke LaValley/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK The Case For James Franklin If you just look at records and Big Ten titles, it’s easy to say Ryan Day has been a much better coach at Ohio State than James Franklin has been at Penn State. Franklin took over a Penn State program in 2014 that was still recovering from the scandal that rocked the football community under the eye of legendary head coach Joe Paterno .
Paterno won two national championships during his incredible run as the team’s head coach from 1966-2011. But when the scandal happened and an investigation revealed Paterno had knowledge of the abuse allegations Jerry Sandusky was charged with and turned a blind eye. Despite having the most wins in college football history (409), the scandal rocked the football program and almost overnight, Paterno’s statue was taken down and his name was removed from anything to do with Penn State football.
Bill O’Brien took the hardest job in college football and began to turn the page to a new chapter, coaching the Nittany Lions in 2012 and 2013 before taking the Houston Texans’ head coaching job in 2014. That’s when Franklin took over — and despite massive recruiting challenges due to the scandal and a fan base that had lost excitement — Franklin has been solid in State College, with a 95-39 overall record and one Big Ten title in 2016. Franklin, now dealing with off-the-field issues himself , took over a far more difficult situation than Day — and while he hasn’t had the same regular season success as the Ohio State head coach — he’s led the Nittany Lions to four 11-win seasons and currently has them undefeated and the No.
3 team in the nation, just ahead of the Buckeyes who are (6-1). Franklin is one of five active FBS coaches with a 66%-plus winning percentage and Penn State has finished in the top 12 of the final College Football Playoff rankings in six of the last eight seasons, has earned berths in five New Year’s Six bowl games with three wins and won the 2016 Big Ten Championship. If Franklin can find a way to knock off the talented Buckeyes’ team — a group that Meyer has publicly stated has more talent than any Ohio State team in history — this weekend? There’s an argument Penn State is better right now under Franklin than Ohio State is under Day.
The Case Against James Franklin We are now in 2024, over a decade removed from the Paterno scandal. Franklin has been widely inconsistent on the recruiting trail, with his best year coming in 2022 where the Nittany Lions ranked No. 6 overall in recruiting with three 5-star players.
Beyond that year, Penn State consistently ranks outside of the top 15 programs when it comes to recruiting. The argument against Franklin is that he’s a good coach, but lacks the “greatness” to lead Penn State to a national title victory. The Nittany Lions had one of the most talented rosters in program last season but finished (10-3) and closed out the year with a loss in the Peach Bowl.
If Franklin can’t maximize the talent from that No. 6 recruiting class that’s on the current roster (DE Abdul Carter , DE Dani Dennis-Sutton , QB Drew Allar , and the RB duo of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen ), the window is closing. Most, if not all of those players are likely in their final year at Penn State, and sitting at (7-0) with a home matchup against Ohio State scheduled for Saturday, Franklin has a prime opportunity to silence the critics, win the big game and possibly end the playoff chances for one of the top teams in the country.
If Penn State loses, they won’t be a lock for the 12-team College Football Playoff. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports So in summary, I truly believe this weekend’s game will answer the question on which program is currently better off. If Penn State wins, it’s Franklin.
If Ohio State wins, it’s Day. The loser will keep facing heat from the fan base, but sooner or later, one of these two Big Ten coaches needs to prove he can win championships..
