Josh Pate bluntly dismisses “overrated” criticism of James Franklin by providing bare facts 

Head coach James Franklin and the Penn State Nittany Lions reached the College Football Playoff semifinal this season. It was a great season for the Lions, but they were ultimately eliminated by Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Despite the strong season, Franklin has still drawn criticism from fans, with many calling him overrated. On Saturday, analyst Josh Pate released an episode of 'Josh Pate's College Football Show.' In the episode, Pate talked about why he does not think that James Franklin is overrated (starts at 0:20):

"James Franklin, I am told time and time again, most overrated coach in college football. Now, of course, that's ridiculous, but we're told that a lot. My truth on this is the truth. My truth about James Franklin is he is the most properly rated head coach in America. That's old hat. If you've been around you've heard me say that a lot.

"If you disagree, you've probably come back at me with this stat. He is 1-19 vs AP top-five teams. He's overrated. At which I would have asked you, what is he rated? Anyone who is familiar with this show understands this concept. If it's overrated, the first thing we need to know is, what is it rated?"

Josh Pate then explained why he thinks James Franklin is properly rated:

"So, he's losing to top five teams, right? And he's not favored to win those games? No, he's a point-spread underdog. So, it sounds like from a point-spread perspective, he's properly rated.

"Has he been losing a lot of games he's been favored in? No, he's mainly just lost the ones he's a dog in. He's losing the games he's supposed to lose and winning the games he's supposed to win."

James Franklin and Penn State have a middling strength of schedule next season

While Franklin has been called overrated, he has been capable of beating teams he is supposed to beat throughout his career.

Heading into next season, Penn State has the ninth-hardest schedule in the Big Ten according to USA Today. Since Franklin usually does well against teams he should beat, the Nittany Lions should be positioned well to have another strong season in 2025.

The toughest matchup for Franklin and the Nittany Lions are expected to be against Oregon and Ohio State. They play Oregon on Sept. 27 at home and Ohio State on Nov. 1 on the road.