Bowl, once unthinkable, now possible

A conversation about a bowl invitation would have been laughable four weeks ago for Penn State. An 0-5 start made the possibility of a postseason game seemingly impossible, even in a season with the NCAA removing the usual requirement of winning six games.

A three-game winning streak has the Nittany Lions at 3-5 with an Illinois team at 25 coming into town after firing its coach, Lovie Smith. Several sportsbooks have the Nittany Lions favored by at least 14 points. It’s hard to guarantee anything in football, especially in a pandemic. However, if the game gets played it’s fair to say the Nittany Lions should win.

If James Franklin’s squad defeats the Illini, they’ll need to decide if their season will end there or with a trip to a bowl. Franklin told reporters that a decision would be made after the 5:30 p.m. contest ends.

“What we’re going to do is talk about it Saturday night,” Franklin said. “We’ll do it after the game because, as you know, we take a 1-0 mentality. Saturday night after the game, we’ll have another discussion.”

Linebacker Jesse Luketa cautiously expressed his excitement about a possible invitation.

“It would be a great opportunity and an honor to receive a bowl invite,” Luketa told reporters on Tuesday. Where we’re at as a team right now, we’re just focused on going out strong for our seniors this week and dominating this week. It’s going to be a great opportunity if it does come.

“It will be an opportunity that I’m going to make sure I maximize if given. So that’s what we’re at.”

Franklin spoke to reporters for more than 40 minutes on Tuesday. He broached several topics in the question-and-answer session. Here are a few of the highlights:

Black coaches

Franklin used part of his opening statement to lament the firing of Smith at Illinois. The Illini were 17-39 in five seasons under Smith with a 10-33 mark in Big Ten play with one bowl appearance, a loss in the 2019 Redbox Bowl to finish 6-7 on the season. The numbers weren’t in Smith’s favor. However, Illinois has some unique barriers to winning. Nonetheless, Kevin Sumlin’s firing at Arizona and Derek Mason leaving Vanderbilt means there are only 11 Black coaches at FBS schools. Being one of those 11,

Franklin felt it was important to speak up with perhaps his being the highest-profile job.

“It’s a little troubling that out of 130 Division I programs, I think there’s only 14 AfricanAmerican head coaches, and three of them have been let go this year,” Franklin said. “I hate to see that for Lovie, who I think is a good man and a very good football coach.”

Rod Smith will serve as interim coach for the Illini on Saturday. Franklin is warning his players to prepare carefully against a wounded team.

“I think it has an impact,” Franklin said. “I think a different voice sometimes can spur some energy. We have to be ready for everything.”

Injury update

Offensive lineman C.J. Thorpe didn’t play in the game against Michigan State or the previous week against Rutgers. Franklin said he was out for medical reasons.

“We hope to have him back, but we’ll see,” Franklin said. “Those are medical decisions that we’re not involved in but, obviously, [we] are aware of.”

The redshirt junior played in six games this season with three starts. He has 32 career appearances.

Snow showers

Weather reports are predicting heavy snowfall in University Park on Wednesday. The weather could impact practice. Franklin let out an audible sigh followed by a laugh when a reporter asked about the impending snow.

“So, you know, we’ll do like we do everything else, we’ll figure it out,” Franklin said. “We’ll adjust and be ready to get the work done that needs to be done, but it’ll be interesting. It’s just another thing in 2020 that we’re going to have to handle, that we’re going to have to have a plan for. We’ve already started talking about it, not only as a staff but also with the administration, but it should be interesting.”

Franklin finished the amateur forecast with a bit of a zinger about Wednesday’s practice.

“It may start out as football practice,” Franklin said. “It may end as a snowball fight.”