It didn’t take Penn State players long to turn their attention toward what lies ahead even with the sting still setting in following yet another gut-wrenching loss to Ohio State — this one in front of a record crowd at Beaver Stadium on Saturday.
They made it clear: They hope the Nittany Lions meet the Buckeyes again this season. And coach James Franklin had no problem with it.
“I’m totally fine with them having enough confidence and having enough grit and determination and anger at the moment, that they want a second shot,” Franklin said Monday during his weekly news conference. “In today’s college football, that’s a reality in ways that it probably hasn’t been in the past.”
The moves by conferences in recent years to abolish divisions combined with the expansion of the College Football Playoff field from four to 12 created more avenues for rematches and even teams meeting three times.
Though the odds of No. 3 Ohio State (7-1, 4-1) and No. 6 Penn State (7-1, 4-1) playing each other in the Big Ten championship game aren’t great, it’s a possibility that didn’t exist prior to this year. That’s because they were always grouped together after the league split into divisions and instituted a title matchup in 2011.