Even absent much of the anticipated luster, Penn State’s trip out West to battle the Trojans offers a rare opportunity to flip the script on the program’s fortunes under James Franklin.
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The moment has arrived.
Among the many alluring qualities that draw us unceasingly back into sports fandom no matter how much or how often it inflicts nearly unbearable anguish, maybe the most satisfying is that sports offer us closure. A final score. An ultimate champion. No matter the length of the season or intensity of the build-up, in the end, there is always the denouement. A cold, uncaring universe offers little of the certainty our brains so desperately crave, but sports will always give us an answer, even if it is often the one we didn’t want. Wait long enough, and the moment – the answer – will always come.
For James Franklin and the Penn State football program, one such verdict is now merely hours away from declaration. No matter the outcome on a Sun-splashed afternoon in the Los Angeles Coliseum, a judgement on the Nittany Lions’ 2024 season, and perhaps a whole lot more, will be rendered. Many questions, some newly formed and others long-simmering, will finally get resolved when Penn State’s game at USC goes final.
