Almost seven months ago, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki sat inside Lasch Building and was asked what it would take for him to describe his first season at Penn State as a success.
“I don’t know if I can,” Kotelnicki said. “I hesitate to talk about wins and losses and winning conference titles and national titles. If you believe in the process you have to develop your football team, the results will take care of themselves.
“I know this. I know Coach (James) Franklin has always had a goal since he got here. He wants to win the whole friggin’ thing. I want that, too.”
Yes, Franklin and the third-ranked Nittany Lions (6-0) are all about going 1-0 each week. Focus on the next task and not the ones after that. Don’t get ahead of yourself. That philosophy has mostly worked since his arrival in 2014.
But Penn State’s next three games might turn out to be the most significant of Franklin’s tenure.
Beating Wisconsin Saturday night at Camp Randall Stadium and then Ohio State and Washington on back-to-back weekends at Beaver Stadium would put the Lions in prime position to make the Big Ten championship game and gain a potential bye in the College Football Playoff.
Easier said than done, of course.
The Badgers have found their groove after decisive losses to Alabama and USC. They rank among the national leaders in total and scoring defense.
The Buckeyes have owned Penn State since 2016 with seven consecutive wins. They have a $20 million roster that ranks in the top 10 on offense and in the top five on defense.
The Huskies might struggle on offense, but they have a top 10 defense and own a win over Michigan.
Favored by 6.5 points over Wisconsin, Penn State likely will be an underdog against Ohio State and a favorite in its remaining four games against Washington, Purdue, Minnesota and Maryland.
“The reality for both sides of the ball is that we have to be at our best when it matters most, in the biggest games,” Franklin said in June.
This might be the Lions’ best chance to make a title run for a while. Their highly rated 2022 recruiting class is the foundation of this team.
Eleven members of that class have primary roles: Drew Allar, Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen, Omari Evans, Drew Shelton, Vega Ioane, Beau Pribula, Abdul Carter, Dani Dennis-Sutton, Zane Durant and Cam Miller.
Penn State’s time might be now, depending on how many of them make themselves available for next year’s NFL draft.
Their chance of making the 12-team CFP is rated at 73.7% by ESPN’s Football Power Index, trailing Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, Oregon and Miami.
The FPI gives them a 16.4% chance of winning the Big Ten championship, a 10.4% chance of reaching the national title game and a 4.6% chance of winning it all.
“I look at it as (having) a bigger window and a bigger opportunity,” Franklin said in June, “probably like some teams in the SEC West used to feel.”
First things first, though, and that’s Wisconsin. Penn State has won five straight in the series since a 45-7 loss in 2011 when Russell Wilson was the quarterback.
The Badgers, though, are playing much better than they did in September when they lost 42-10 to Alabama and 38-21 to USC.
“I think really the last three weeks, they’ve played their best football,” Franklin said. “They’re really coming on right now.”
He hopes he can say the same thing about his team after the next three games.
