James Franklin counting on home crowd to help against Michigan
Penn State Coach James Franklin walks towards the sideline during a timeout in the first quarter against Illinois Saturday September 16, 2023 at Memorial Stadium. (Lynn Harrington/stayaliveinpower5)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — It’s no mystery that Beaver Stadium is one of the loudest venues in all of College football.
Over 107,000 Penn State fans pack the place, and make it a huge snake pit for the opposition. The No. 3 team in the country will invade Happy Valley Saturday morning, and Coach James Franklin wants to protect the house by any means necessary.
Michigan is the highest-ranked opponent on the home slate, and provides an opportunity for Penn State to jump back in the Playoff picture with a victory. The magnitude of this matchup is monumental, and Franklin is confident the Nittany Lion faithful will be ready for the annual Stripe Out Game.
He’s happy that kickoff is at noon instead of later in the evening. That means the game is going to have everyone’s full attention, which Franklin believes will be beneficial for his players and the fans.
“The noon game I think is going to be a much better environment, because between the coffee, doughnuts and sugar, our fans will be ready to go,” Franklin said. “We’ll be at that stadium early cause we’re a morning group anyway, so it’s going to be ideal.”
The Nittany Lions are likely catching the Wolverines at the right time too, with all of the distractions. Friday the Big Ten suspended Coach Jim Harbaugh for Michigan’s remaining three games. That has to hit the Wolverines’ locker room in a major way and make them vulnerable.
Playing in a hostile environment is probably the last thing Harbaugh’s squad wants to encounter. That doesn’t mean Franklin is taking Michigan likely. Franklin emphasized at his weekly press conference that he wants the crowd turned all the way up, especially the student section. The 51-year old is confident the crowd will cause false starts and communication problems for Michigan (9-0) this time around.
“I hope that the environment will also be something that’s going to be difficult, and cause some challenges,” he said. “When you get penalties, and behind the sticks it’s a problem, and they haven’t played that way a whole lot this year, so that’ll be a big part in the game.”
The Nittany Lions have lost the last two games against the Wolverines, so the urgency is there for Franklin to change that narrative. This game will tell if Penn State (8-1) has learned and made adjustments since its’ loss at Ohio State last month. The 12th man will be on full display, and Nittany Lions need to take advantage of the spotlight.
The sign-stealing scandal has the rest of the Big Ten upset with Michigan, and the fans would love nothing more than a Penn State upset. Games aren’t played on paper though, and it’s still any given Autumn Saturday. The No. 10 Nittany Lions need to be prepared for the moment, as well as their fans.
