As Penn State lines up to start the 2025 season, coach James Franklin knows he’s facing a new kind of pressure. Just about everyone believes the Nittany Lions are good enough to compete for a national title.

Actually winning one? That’s a different story.

College football analyst Josh Pate sat down with Franklin on Tuesday afternoon to discuss what he’s learned in the last few years and how he can apply it to this season. And Franklin revealed an interesting conversation he recently had.

“A couple things, right? You’re constantly studying the game,” Franklin said. “You’re constantly talking to people about things that you handled the previous year. You’re talking about how do we go into this season?

“I’m on a walk the other day, I pick up the phone and call coach (Nick) Saban, right? ‘You’ve been in this situation before.’ He had really good feedback, as you could imagine. I’ve watched all the stuff, you’ve had a number of conversations. We were in the league together. But that was good.”

James Franklin didn’t get too much into what he took away from the conversation from Saban. That he’ll keep to himself.

But if he was able to find a few good nuggets of wisdom from one of the most successful guys to ever do it, that could be just the push that Penn State needs. Franklin expounded.

“A lot of times it’s not that they’re going to tell you anything different, they’re reinforcing what you already know, and there’s value in that,” he said.

There’s another element to this offseason for James Franklin that he has tried to highlight. He has some really, really good assistant coaches.

“I think the other thing is leaning in,” Franklin said. “Stan Drayton has been a part of I think three national championships, right? Jim Knowles just had a national championship last year.

“So I’m trying to encourage Jim to say, ‘Look, I just was a part of it. This is what it looks like. What we just did at practice yesterday, that’s what it looks like. This doesn’t. This is not aligned with championship-level football.’ So I’m encouraging them to talk about it, because we want to grow from their experiences as well.”

As Penn State lines up to start the 2025 season, coach James Franklin knows he’s facing a new kind of pressure. Just about everyone believes the Nittany Lions are good enough to compete for a national title.

Actually winning one? That’s a different story.

College football analyst Josh Pate sat down with Franklin on Tuesday afternoon to discuss what he’s learned in the last few years and how he can apply it to this season. And Franklin revealed an interesting conversation he recently had.

“A couple things, right? You’re constantly studying the game,” Franklin said. “You’re constantly talking to people about things that you handled the previous year. You’re talking about how do we go into this season?

“I’m on a walk the other day, I pick up the phone and call coach (Nick) Saban, right? ‘You’ve been in this situation before.’ He had really good feedback, as you could imagine. I’ve watched all the stuff, you’ve had a number of conversations. We were in the league together. But that was good.”

James Franklin didn’t get too much into what he took away from the conversation from Saban. That he’ll keep to himself.

But if he was able to find a few good nuggets of wisdom from one of the most successful guys to ever do it, that could be just the push that Penn State needs. Franklin expounded.

“A lot of times it’s not that they’re going to tell you anything different, they’re reinforcing what you already know, and there’s value in that,” he said.

There’s another element to this offseason for James Franklin that he has tried to highlight. He has some really, really good assistant coaches.

“I think the other thing is leaning in,” Franklin said. “Stan Drayton has been a part of I think three national championships, right? Jim Knowles just had a national championship last year.

“So I’m trying to encourage Jim to say, ‘Look, I just was a part of it. This is what it looks like. What we just did at practice yesterday, that’s what it looks like. This doesn’t. This is not aligned with championship-level football.’ So I’m encouraging them to talk about it, because we want to grow from their experiences as well.”

As Penn State lines up to start the 2025 season, coach James Franklin knows he’s facing a new kind of pressure. Just about everyone believes the Nittany Lions are good enough to compete for a national title.

Actually winning one? That’s a different story.

College football analyst Josh Pate sat down with Franklin on Tuesday afternoon to discuss what he’s learned in the last few years and how he can apply it to this season. And Franklin revealed an interesting conversation he recently had.

“A couple things, right? You’re constantly studying the game,” Franklin said. “You’re constantly talking to people about things that you handled the previous year. You’re talking about how do we go into this season?

“I’m on a walk the other day, I pick up the phone and call coach (Nick) Saban, right? ‘You’ve been in this situation before.’ He had really good feedback, as you could imagine. I’ve watched all the stuff, you’ve had a number of conversations. We were in the league together. But that was good.”

James Franklin didn’t get too much into what he took away from the conversation from Saban. That he’ll keep to himself.

But if he was able to find a few good nuggets of wisdom from one of the most successful guys to ever do it, that could be just the push that Penn State needs. Franklin expounded.

“A lot of times it’s not that they’re going to tell you anything different, they’re reinforcing what you already know, and there’s value in that,” he said.

There’s another element to this offseason for James Franklin that he has tried to highlight. He has some really, really good assistant coaches.

“I think the other thing is leaning in,” Franklin said. “Stan Drayton has been a part of I think three national championships, right? Jim Knowles just had a national championship last year.

“So I’m trying to encourage Jim to say, ‘Look, I just was a part of it. This is what it looks like. What we just did at practice yesterday, that’s what it looks like. This doesn’t. This is not aligned with championship-level football.’ So I’m encouraging them to talk about it, because we want to grow from their experiences as well.”

As Penn State lines up to start the 2025 season, coach James Franklin knows he’s facing a new kind of pressure. Just about everyone believes the Nittany Lions are good enough to compete for a national title.

Actually winning one? That’s a different story.

College football analyst Josh Pate sat down with Franklin on Tuesday afternoon to discuss what he’s learned in the last few years and how he can apply it to this season. And Franklin revealed an interesting conversation he recently had.

“A couple things, right? You’re constantly studying the game,” Franklin said. “You’re constantly talking to people about things that you handled the previous year. You’re talking about how do we go into this season?

“I’m on a walk the other day, I pick up the phone and call coach (Nick) Saban, right? ‘You’ve been in this situation before.’ He had really good feedback, as you could imagine. I’ve watched all the stuff, you’ve had a number of conversations. We were in the league together. But that was good.”

James Franklin didn’t get too much into what he took away from the conversation from Saban. That he’ll keep to himself.

But if he was able to find a few good nuggets of wisdom from one of the most successful guys to ever do it, that could be just the push that Penn State needs. Franklin expounded.

“A lot of times it’s not that they’re going to tell you anything different, they’re reinforcing what you already know, and there’s value in that,” he said.

There’s another element to this offseason for James Franklin that he has tried to highlight. He has some really, really good assistant coaches.

“I think the other thing is leaning in,” Franklin said. “Stan Drayton has been a part of I think three national championships, right? Jim Knowles just had a national championship last year.

“So I’m trying to encourage Jim to say, ‘Look, I just was a part of it. This is what it looks like. What we just did at practice yesterday, that’s what it looks like. This doesn’t. This is not aligned with championship-level football.’ So I’m encouraging them to talk about it, because we want to grow from their experiences as well.”

As Penn State lines up to start the 2025 season, coach James Franklin knows he’s facing a new kind of pressure. Just about everyone believes the Nittany Lions are good enough to compete for a national title.

Actually winning one? That’s a different story.

College football analyst Josh Pate sat down with Franklin on Tuesday afternoon to discuss what he’s learned in the last few years and how he can apply it to this season. And Franklin revealed an interesting conversation he recently had.

“A couple things, right? You’re constantly studying the game,” Franklin said. “You’re constantly talking to people about things that you handled the previous year. You’re talking about how do we go into this season?

“I’m on a walk the other day, I pick up the phone and call coach (Nick) Saban, right? ‘You’ve been in this situation before.’ He had really good feedback, as you could imagine. I’ve watched all the stuff, you’ve had a number of conversations. We were in the league together. But that was good.”

James Franklin didn’t get too much into what he took away from the conversation from Saban. That he’ll keep to himself.

But if he was able to find a few good nuggets of wisdom from one of the most successful guys to ever do it, that could be just the push that Penn State needs. Franklin expounded.

“A lot of times it’s not that they’re going to tell you anything different, they’re reinforcing what you already know, and there’s value in that,” he said.

There’s another element to this offseason for James Franklin that he has tried to highlight. He has some really, really good assistant coaches.

“I think the other thing is leaning in,” Franklin said. “Stan Drayton has been a part of I think three national championships, right? Jim Knowles just had a national championship last year.

“So I’m trying to encourage Jim to say, ‘Look, I just was a part of it. This is what it looks like. What we just did at practice yesterday, that’s what it looks like. This doesn’t. This is not aligned with championship-level football.’ So I’m encouraging them to talk about it, because we want to grow from their experiences as well.”

For the third time this season, the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx met on Tuesday without All-Stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart on the court.

For the first time in four total matchups, the New York Liberty won. Led by big games from Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu and a strong supporting effort Emma Meesseman, the Liberty secured an 85-75 win on their home court. 

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The victory fended off a regular-season sweep at the hands of the Lynx in a rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals that the Liberty won. It also concluded a nine-day stretch in which the two title contenders played each other three times.

Lynx previously dominated shorthanded series

Minnesota won the previous two matchups — an 86-80 victory on Saturday in Minneapolis and an 83-71 victory on Aug. 10 in New York. Like on Tuesday, neither Collier nor Stewart played in those games. 

The Lynx also won the first matchup of the season on July 30. Collier played in that game and led the Lynx to a 100-93 victory. Stewart — New York’s two-time league MVP forward — did not. 

Stewart’s been sidelined since July 26 with a bone bruise in her right knee that she sustained against the Los Angeles Sparks. Tuesday marked the 11th consecutive game she’s missed with the injury. 

Collier, the MVP favorite, suffered a sprained right ankle on Aug. 2 that’s now sidelined her for five games. The collective injuries put a damper on a schedule in which the WNBA slated the title favorites to play each other in three consecutive games. 

The good news for both teams is that there’s plenty of star power on both sides of the court, even with Collier and Stewart sidelined. Jones’ led all players on Tuesday with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Ionescu added 17 points and 11 assists while hitting multiple big buckets down the stretch.

The Liberty jumped out front early Tuesday to a 17-7 lead. The Lynx cut their deficit to 24-20 by the end of the first quarter, but never took the lead in a game the Liberty led from the opening bucket of the game by Jones.

Big 3s by Ionescu ice game

Minnesota cut a 15-point third-quarter deficit to 66-62 early in the fourth quarter. But New York responded again, this time with a 5-0 run on a bucket by Jones and a 3 from Ionescu that extended the New York lead to nine points. 

Minnesota continued to keep the pressure on, but New York never relented. Ionescu iced the game with a deep and-1 3-pointer with 33.8 seconds remaining on the clock.

Meesseman added 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Liberty. Courtney Williams led the Lynx effort with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Progress for both Stewart and Collier

The good news for both teams is that there are signs of progress for each of their injured stars. Stewart returned to practice on Monday, but wasn’t ready to suit up for Tuesday’s game. Collier, meanwhile, was listed as doubtful for each of the last two games after previously being ruled out prior to game day. 

The status for each points to a return to the court before the conclusion of the regular season on Sept. 11 — and, more importantly, in plenty of time for a potential rematch in the playoffs.

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