James Franklin can’t win big games.

That’s been a common sentiment among Penn State football fans over the last few years. Since Franklin took over as head coach of the Nittany Lions in 2014, Penn State has remained stagnantly above average, commonly getting teased in the national media for going 10-2 every year with losses to Ohio State and Michigan and narrowly missing the College Football Playoff.

In the four-team playoff era, no team was consistently as close to making the playoff without ever getting over the hump as Penn State was. If a 12-team playoff had existed, the Nittany Lions would have benefitted most of any program.

Penn State never breached the precipice of the national championship in the four-team era. Despite regular strong starts to the season, the Nittany Lions fell short in big games. This became a common criticism of Franklin.

Many fans pinned the blame for failed seasons on Franklin. During his time at Penn State, Franklin is 13-26 against ranked opponents with an abysmal 3-17 record against top-10 opponents — primarily Ohio State and Michigan.

However, the days of playing both Ohio State and Michigan every year are over. The four-team playoff era is gone, and in college football’s rapidly changing modern landscape, it’s crucial for Penn State’s program to get over the hump soon. If it doesn’t, the program will lose players to the transfer portal and a vicious cycle will wreck the team’s national status as a top-tier program.

Because of this, in the inaugural season of the 12-team playoff and expanded Big Ten, one could argue this season is the most important of Franklin’s career. The 2024 team has nationally recognized players like Tyler Warren, fresh perspectives in the coordinator roles, and some of Franklin’s proudest recruiting accomplishments like Drew Allar.

Penn State has to make the playoff this year.

To do this, Franklin needs to do something he’s been often accused of being unable to do: win big games. After taking down a ranked Illinois team at home in the “White Out… Energy” game and beating a struggling UCLA team, the Nittany Lions traveled to Los Angeles to face USC.

With a 3-2 record, it’s important to acknowledge this USC team went beyond its face value. Despite being unranked, this was a very talented USC team. Lincoln Riley is one of the nation’s premier coaches, and prior to their game against the Nittany Lions, the Trojans averaged 442.4 yards and 30.8 points per game.

That explosive offense was on full display in the first half. After two quarters, USC dropped 20 points on Penn State’s defense and its offense struggled to put everything together. Social media buzzed with fans calling for coaches and coordinators to get fired, saying Drew Allar is a fraud, and rehashing the age-old narrative that “Franklin can’t win big games.”

James Franklin was set to get a Top 3 ranking next week and comes out and lays an egg…

Typical. pic.twitter.com/iNiO2E11wa

— College Football Report (@CFBRep) October 12, 2024

That’s not how the story ended.

The Nittany Lions made a strong push coming out of the gate in the third quarter, scoring back-to-back, momentum-swinging touchdowns. The Trojans didn’t go down without a fight, keeping themselves in the game with crucial fourth-quarter points.

To complete its miraculous comeback, Penn State had to drive down the field with only minutes left and tie the score. Then, it had to make a tough defensive stop to prevent the determined USC offense from driving down the field and scoring a game-winning field goal.

That’s exactly what the Nittany Lions did. After a missed field goal in overtime by USC, Ryan Barker booted it through the uprights to seal the game on a walkoff for Penn State.

They…won.

Fans on Twitter were shocked, old takes were exposed, and people sang the praises of Warren’s historic game, Allar’s clutch game-saving drive, and Barker’s stone-cold performance. Amid the celebration, Franklin looked almost in awe, shedding a tear and embracing his staff and team.

USC may not have been ranked when Penn State marched into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but there’s no denying the talent and opposition the Nittany Lions faced. With their backs against the wall in a hostile road environment, Franklin and his players did what great teams do and found a way to win.

These are the sorts of games Penn State would traditionally lose, especially with the newfound pressure of being ranked inside the top five. The loss at Iowa in 2021 and the second-half collapse against Ohio State in 2022 are a few examples.

So has Franklin finally done it? Has he silenced the critics and gotten Penn State football over the hump? Obviously, not yet. The season is only halfway over with plenty of tough opponents and trap games looming. It’s entirely possible in under two weeks, the Nittany Lions will get caught off guard in a raucous prime-time Wisconsin environment and catch their first loss of the season.

However, USC was a big hurdle for this team to overcome. Winning this game and rallying to come back from a 14-point halftime deficit showed a lot of maturity and growth from Franklin and Co.

There’s a chance that months or years down the line, fans look back on this USC victory as a turning point for this program. Penn State got the job done and won a big game, and if the Nittany Lions win the games they’re projected to, they’ll finish 11-1 and make the playoff for the very first time.