No, James Franklin isn't Steve Spurrier

After seeing a few words here and there about James Franklin the past couple of weeks, I joyfully assumed the Penn State coach was filling a vacuum created when Steve Spurrier hung up the visor to start “consulting” in Gainesville (and Crescent Beach, of course).

Last year, Franklin ruffled some fancy feathers when he suggested other Big 10 schools were using Penn State’s horrendous Jerry Sandusky scandal as a negative-recruiting tool. He was probably correct, but we’re pretty sure that all is fair in love, war and recruiting, and also pretty sure James Franklin might also employ whatever negative-recruiting hammer is in his tool box.

But his charges irritated the Ohio State coach, so there’s that.

And now, in the first month of this season, Franklin seemingly began channeling his inner Ball Coach and spitting out headlines all across our gridironed land.

Seemingly.

Sadly, if you look further into the matters at hand, you’ll learn that Franklin didn’t necessarily compare Pitt, an ancient Penn State rival, to Akron. And there’s a pretty good chance Franklin didn’t call a last-minute timeout last Saturday to ice Georgia State’s kicker in a 56-0 blowout.

“For us, this was just like beating Akron,” Franklin said after beating Pitt on Sept. 9, a week after routing Akron. While Franklin did invite Pitt and everyone else to interpret his remarks any way they please, he explained that every win, to him, is the same regardless of the opponent.

“I’ve been saying this for three years,” he said.

As for icing Georgia State’s kicker with just 11 seconds left in a rout, Franklin vehemently denied it. He said he called for the timeout because his defense on the field included third- and fourth-team players, and those guys hadn’t ever practiced kick-defense situations. So he put his second-team defense back on the field, the 31-yard attempt sailed wide and Penn State had its shutout.

And Franklin knows what you and all of your sane friends are thinking.

“People said that when the score is 56-0, we should just stand there and let someone kick it through the uprights,” Franklin told a media gathering earlier this week in Happy Valley. “If that’s how you think and how you feel, then you won’t ever understand me and you won’t ever understand us.”

Franklin went on to explain that his teams will always “fight for every inch on the field, every yard on the field, every second on the clock.”

So, there you have it. He's just another in a long line of single-minded, hyper-intense, totally consumed middle-aged men in the business of winning big-league college football games. 

Franklin’s won-loss record at Vandy and now Penn State points to a guy who knows what he’s doing. His desire to treat Akron and Pitt similarly — at least publicly — is a common practice these days and shows that Franklin has a certain self-discipline.

His willingness to call timeout with 11 seconds because the “wrong guys” are on the field proves he has the maniacal focus to become an all-time great.

The next Urban Meyer, possibly, but not the next Steve Spurrier.

The Picks

Here’s a reminder of why James Franklin isn’t Steve Spurrier. A decade into Florida’s 30-year winning streak over Kentucky, the Gators dealt the Wildcats a 65-0 loss. “These sort of games don’t prove very much,” Spurrier said afterward. “All it proves is we’re better than Kentucky.”

The only thing preventing a pick of the Wildcats today is the refusal to jump off a definite trend, and if 30 years isn’t a trend, neither are the tides — Gators by 2.

• Elsewhere, FSU by 8 over N.C. State; Maryland beats UCF; Alabama survives Vandy; Clemson big over Boston College; Mississippi State beats Georgia; Notre Dame in OT over Michigan State; N.C. beats Duke 48-47; Oklahoma State over TCU; B-CU beats Howard; Stetson by 3 over Campbell; and the Framingham State Rams beat the Buccaneers of Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

BTW: Founded in 1891, Mass Maritime is one of seven maritime academies in the U.S., and among its alumni is Capt. Richard Phillips, who was portrayed by Tom Hanks in that movie about pirates.

Framingham, just west of Boston, claims many famous native sons and daughters. Among them is Crispus Attucks, widely believed to be the first casualty of the Boston Massacre and therefore the first American killed during the American Revolution.

Framingham State’s Bowditch Field is alongside the Callahan Senior Center, and if you hang around town until Monday, the pool tables open at 8:30 and duplicate bridge starts at noon.

Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com. Twitter: @HeyWillieNJ.