The biggest game on the college football schedule this week is in State College, where the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions host the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes in a massive contest.
A spot in the Big 10 championship is likely on the line, as well as a potential spot in the College Football Playoff.
Also on the line is the reputation of both coaches, Penn State’s James Franklin and Ohio State’s Ryan Day.
Mainly because this is the type of big game that both of them have consistently lost. One of them is going to come through as a winner and dramatically change the narrative around themselves. The other? Is only going to crank up the hot seat they might already be sitting on.
While it might be crazy to suggest either coach is in danger of losing their job given their track records, the world of college football is a ruthless, cutthroat industry where winning, and winning big is expected at the top programs. And these are two of the top programs in the country.
The problem is neither coach has done enough to elevate their program to the level of a national champion and win the big games.
Franklin’s issues in these games are well-documented at this point. While Penn State has consistently beaten up on the second- and third-tier Big 10 teams and fattened its record against soft non-conference opponents, he has consistently fallen flat against top teams, especially Ohio State and Michigan.
He enters Saturday’s game with a 3-17 record against top-10 teams at Penn State, with two of those wins coming back in 2016. He is also just 1-9 in his career against Ohio State. The biggest knock on him in these games is that he tends to play it ultra-safe and is more likely to coach not to lose instead of coaching to win. Given how good his roster is, how high the expectations are, and the fact he is getting this game at home the pressure is going to be on him to win.
A loss will only further the narrative that he is not the coach to get Penn State over the hump and take them from a really good program to an elite, national championship-level program.
But Day is not going to get off any easier in the eyes of Buckeyes fans if he loses, because he has also had his share of struggles in these games. He is only 2-7 at Ohio State against top-five teams, and after losing to Oregon in a close road game earlier this season his team has almost no margin for error the rest of the way. The Buckeyes have a supremely talented roster and one that they spent over $20 million in NIL money to put together. Simply winning 10 or 11 games is not going to be enough. The only result that will be acceptable for this team is going to be a deep run into the College Football Playoff, if not an actual National Championship.
Both coaches are facing the pressure. One of them is guaranteed to change the narrative on Saturday. The other is just going to add to the pressure they are already facing every year.
