Former Penn State head coach James Franklin did a lot of good for the program, but there is no debating that his inability to win big games has caused an agenda around the program.
Right now, Penn State is viewed as one of the best teams in America year in and year out, but its inability to win when it matters most keeps coming up.
In fact, it has even led players on the current roster to bring up some of the program's past issues in that regard.
Not that it's all on Franklin, but it feels like quarterback Rocco Becht kind of took a shot at the former Penn State head coach. Becht recently spoke about how good Penn State is against non-top programs and added that it was because of the team's mindset.
“[Penn State] had a mindset going up against an FCS school, and they had a different mindset going up against a top team in the country,” Becht said. “So right now, what coach Campbell and myself are trying to instill into players is having that same mentality, game in and game out, and acting like you’re playing a top-tier program every week,” Becht said, per Onward State.
To hear Becht say something like this is a bit eye-opening. It doesn't mean he definitely meant to throw a shot at Franklin, because facts are facts at the end of the day, and there were more problems than just Franklin not having his guys ready to play.
However, I'm unsure how anybody else can take it in any other way. The facts are the facts here, and Franklin didn't have his guys ready to play against the best teams in the country.
Penn State, while expected to be better in big games, will have to show that. It's easy to talk about beating the best teams in the game, but the reality is that no one will care until it does so.
Becht making these comments is fine as long as he backs it up. If not, everyone is going to have something to say about them.