PENN STATE Nittany Lions

National Forecast: 19 • Big Ten East Prediction: 2 • Projected Record: 8-4, 6-3 Big Ten

For a guy who is coming off his first losing season at Penn State, James Franklin sounds pretty upbeat these days. Maybe that’s because the Nittany Lions were better at the end of the 2020 season than they were at the beginning, winning their last four after starting 0–5. Maybe it’s because he pulled off a recruiting coup in January when he fired offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca and brought aboard Mike Yurcich following a coaching purge at Texas. Maybe it’s because the run of spectacularly bad luck that contributed to Penn State’s 0–5 start — injuries, turnovers and a crucial opt-out — seems unlikely to recur in 2021. Whatever the reason, Franklin has turned the page. “There were tremendous lessons to be learned,” he says. “I look forward to taking…

You're reading a preview of

Athlon Sports (Digital) - 1 Issue, 2021 National College Football

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.