Reality check hits hard at Penn State

You know, sometimes the good ol’ days were not exactly what we profess them to be.

The mind starts to play tricks. The fond memories begin to erase unpleasant ones. Time elapsed inevitably helps to paint a more pleasant picture of years past. Focusing solely on what we want to remember and failing to grasp everything that happened way back when. That those good ol’ days, well, they kinda had some crappy mixed.

Here we find the Penn State fan base, particularly on edge after Saturday night saw its beloved (and third-ranked) Nittany Lions fall to No. 6 Oregon, 30-24, in OT. Though not alone in the sports landscape, it truly embodies the meaning of “out of touch.” Specifically in regard to what has gone down in college football the last 100 years and change, and the Nittany Lions’ role in that.

To be brief: Penn State has never been Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame or even Michigan, the most overrated program in the history of college football. Joe Paterno was not the greatest coach in the history of college football. And James Franklin is not the worst coach in the history of Penn State.

Has Penn State had some great stretches? Absolutely. Heck, it had one run in the ‘80s where it played for the national title three times in five seasons and won twice.

Was Paterno a very good coach for a long time? No question. In addition to leading the aforementioned run, he rattled off a six-year run from 1968 to 1973 that yielded three unbeaten (and untied) seasons, three top-5 finishes in those seasons and the program’s lone Heisman winner, John Cappelletti, in the final year of that run.

Does Franklin have his flaws? Oh, yeah.

Here’s the thing, though – so did Paterno, and we’re talking on the field, not off. There were down times and rebuilding years aplenty throughout his 46 years at the helm, including a five-year at the turn of this century in which he had four losing seasons.

So, all this nonsense about how Franklin cannot win the big game and how that’s such a travesty for a historic program such as Penn State’s is ridiculous. Paterno, Saint Joe himself, could only muster a 29-46 record against top-10 competition in his career. Sure, that’s better than what Franklin has done (4-21).

But you might wanna consider Penn State pre-Big Ten arrival and post-Big Ten arrival. Joe went 20-28 in those kinda matchups in the former and 9-18 in the latter, which is the realm Franklin has always found himself.

Further, Franklin has taken the Lions into just five top-10 matchups where they were the higher ranked team, and in those five they were favored just twice. He’s 1-1 in those.

See, it’s a perception thing. He’s not as bad as you think, and he’s at a program that, really, was never quite as good as you think, either.

Are there reasons, legit ones, to move on from Franklin – as so, so many inside AND out of Nittany Nation seem (or scream) to want? Sure. First and foremost, his judgment on quarterbacks, and how to have an offense run around them, has been abysmal for eight straight years now.

Since taking the Penn State gig in 2014, Franklin has had one quarterback play great and that’s Trace McSorley – arguably the least athletically gifted QB he has had in Happy Valley. But he didn’t base the entire offense on helping the kid’s draft stock like he did with Sean Clifford and now Drew Allar, and, wow, look at that, Penn State won the Big Ten championship with McSorley, even posting two of Franklin’s four wins against top-10 teams that season.

Thing is, if people want Franklin gone, who’s to argue? Not me. Would be happy to see him gone if only to end all the bitching and moaning about him. It's just grading Franklin against some fantasy scale that never actually existed at Penn State is silly.

It’s not reality.

GAME OF WEEK 5

Lotta great ones to choose from: Unranked Virginia upsetting No. 8 Florida State, 46-38, in OT to kickstart an epic charging of the field by Cavaliers fans; Arizona State rallying to beat No. 24 TCU, 27-24; Oregon’s win before a White Out crowd at Penn State; No. 11 Indiana winning a sumo match at Iowa, 20-15; No. 16 Georgia Tech beating Wake Forest, 30-29, in OT, and No. 15 Tennessee surviving 41-34 in OT at Mississippi State.

But gotta go with my one alma mater’s riveting rebound instead. A week after being embarrassed at Indiana in a 53-point loss and seeing a drop in the polls from No. 9 to No. 23, Illinois showed some serious moxie in topping No. 21 Southern Cal, 34-32, on a 41-yard David Olano field goal as time expired.

It was a slugfest between an old guard (Illinois) and new guard (USC) in the Big Ten, played out before a sold-out crowd at Memorial Stadium on a beautiful, sunny afternoon in Champaign. The Fighting Illini pretty much maintained a one- to two-score lead throughout until the Trojans stopped their hosts at the goal line late in the fourth quarter and then marched downfield for the tying score and go-ahead PAT. Brilliant junior QB Jayden Maiava tossed the TD there, his second of the day among his 364 yards passing, and appeared to have one-upped his contemporary on the other side.

Then senior QB Luke Altmyer took the field with 1:55 remaining and directed the Illini 51 yards in eight plays to set up the winning kick … and, frankly, earn himself some Heisman hype (see below).

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Would Lane Kiffin leave Ole Miss now for Florida if offered the Gators’ HC gig?

Is Missouri sophomore RB Ahmad Hardy (103 carries, 730 yards, 9 TDs) or USC junior WR Makai Lemon (35 receptions, 589 yards, 5 TDs) the best non-QB in the country?

Aside from playing a half of quality football on opening night at Clemson, has LSU been the worst-looking ranked team in the country?

Sure it’s only 2-2 after beating up on Arkansas, but is No. 21 Notre Dame safely back in the playoff picture now?

Did Virginia Tech make a mistake by not firing HC Brent Pry in the offseason, considering it has won two straight since his departure?

Anyone else notice that No. 16 Vanderbilt is having its best season since back-to-back 9-win ranked squads under HC James Franklin and DC Brent Pry in 2012-13?

UNI WATCH

Hate the all-white Mississippi State getups with the “State” scripted helmets. What an abomination of a previously under-the-radar sweet uniform.

Shockingly, the all-maroon Texas A&M vs. all-white Auburn matchup worked.

The best uni pairings of Week 5, though, were Southern Cal at Illinois and Cal at Boston College – all four teams sporting classic styles and color combos to their own brands.

Three of the monochromatic jersey-pants attires looked great: Tennessee (orange), Air Force (blue) and Montana (black). Why? Because they wore contrasting colored helmets (white for UT and AFA and silver for the Grizzlies) to make each deal pop.

HEISMAN HYPE

Altmyer not only skillfully guided Illinois downfield for the last-second victory against USC, he also threw for 328 yards and two TDs on the day, ran for a TD … and caught an “ode to Nick Foles” TD. He’s a sneaky good athlete who now has thrown for 11 TDs (and 0 INTs) this season for the 4-1 Illini and accounted for 14 TDs overall.

Ironically, Altmyer (71.4 percent) doesn’t even crack the top 5 in completion percentage among Big Ten QBs. Ohio State’s Julian Sayin (78., Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola (75.6), Washington’s Demon Williams Jr. (75.6), Oregon’s Dante Moore (74.6) and Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza (73.0) round out that list, with Sayin, Moore and Mendoza all worthy of Heisman hype in brilliantly leading unbeaten squads.

Keep an eye on Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss. A year ago, he was playing Division II football. A month ago, he was a backup for the Rebels. Currently, he’s on a three-week run in which he’s thrown for 974 yards and four TDs and rushed for 245 yards and two TDs and led the 5-0 Rebels to three wins, including a 24-19 upset of No. 4 LSU on Saturday. Ole Miss was ranked No. 13 entering that game. It is now No. 4.