Three years ago, James Franklin was on the hot seat, in danger of losing the job he worked so hard to get. He put in time at Vanderbilt to earn a top-tier job and Penn State seemed to be a bit overwhelming as he couldn’t get over the ‘average’ hump.
A Big Ten title, Rose Bowl berth, Fiesta Bowl win and two double-digit win seasons later and Franklin is sitting pretty as one of the league’s top dogs.
The head coach is now 36-17 in his four years with the program and he brings back a talented squad for the 2018 season, despite losing the best running back in the NFL draft: Saquan Barkley.
Miles Sanders should fill the Barkley void as a former five-star prospect with extreme potential and Trace McSorley has high expectations at quarterback heading into his senior season. He may very well be the Big Ten’s best quarterback and the weapons he brings back are, well, scary. DeAndre Thompkins and Juwan Johnson are a couple of the best.
Koa Farmer is the top returning defender on the team and Shareef Miller is back after finishing with five sacks last season. Will the defense be top-20 nationally again? It depends on the ability to reload instead of rebuild after returning only two starters.