ESPN’s Desmond Howard Adds Even More Pressure on James Franklin With Strong Penn State Ultimatum

James Franklin’s start to the 2025 season was along expected lines. Nevada never stood a chance, and it became quite early. All the offensive pieces showed out, including Drew Allar and the Allen-Singleton duo. To top it off, Jim Knowles’ first game as the Lions’ DC also went without any major defensive hiccups. But Penn State isn’t judged based on what it does against unranked opponents. In fact, if you’re not named Michigan or Ohio State and you come up against Franklin in the regular season, there is an extremely high likelihood that you’re going to lose. Then how do you make sense of Penn State’s schedule? One analyst has an answer.

ESPN’s Desmond Howard appeared on the September 5 episode of USA Today Sports, and the Lions came up for discussion. “Just a lot of we need to see it when it comes to Penn State, just because they’ve had these fantastic rosters, but they’ve never been able to get over the hump,” Desmond Howard said. Last campaign, the Nittany Lions concluded a decent 13-3 campaign. But the roster buckled against the top-ranked opponents. Defeats against Notre Dame, Oregon, and Ohio State left bitter wounds. The WR room also saw to its shortcomings when they recorded zero receptions against the Irish in the semi-final.

So, what about the 2025 season? Can they pull it off against the top-ranked opponents? “It depends on how much confidence you have in Drew Allar,” Howard said. The QB position is where College GameDay draws the line. Even last year, in that semifinal loss, Drew Allar’s turnover ultimately cost them the game. The Irish scored a field goal, and that was that! But another year under the center, and the hope is that Allar will be better at his job this season. He has been named to the Davey O’Brien Award, Maxwell Award, and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award watch lists.

Desmond Howard continued. “I think that you know, he lost his number one weapon. The tight end went to the NFL, so he’s going to have to develop some other weapons.” He added, “They say he has a good receiving core.” Tyler Warren’s departure to the NFL meant that the head coach had to go to the portal to replace his 1,233 yards of production. The three transfer WRs in Trebor Pena, Kyron Hudson, and Devonte Ross have been brought in to not only replace Warren but also to give more weapons to Allar. The first two showed glimpses of what they can achieve in the Lions’ offense during Week 1. Trebor tallied seven catches for 74 yards, while Hudson chipped in six catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.

But again, it was Nevada. That’s not the real challenge. For Howard, Penn State’s schedule must be looked at differently. “This is one of those situations, like I told you earlier. To me, they have a two-game season,” Desmond went on. “I don’t care what they do the rest of the season; they have a two-game season.” In most of their regular-season games, James Franklin’s team will go as heavy favorites. That was true for Nevada. The same against FIU, Villanova, and Northwestern, among others. How do you judge them?

“Okay, I’ll see what they’re made of, if they’re legitimate or not, when they play these two opponents.” He’s talking about Oregon and Ohio State. The Lions will play the Ducks at home in late September, while they’ll travel to Ohio Stadium to face the Buckeyes in early November. Both teams beat James Franklin last year. The second loss came in the B1G Championship game. That’s all that James Franklin must be waiting for. Another chance to prove the doubters wrong. Will this be the year?

Drew Allar’s locker room on high alert

Despite a dominant 46-11 victory over Nevada, the Nittany Lions missed significant opportunities. Settling for field goals, where touchdowns could have been reaped. “Like, Zane had that huge turnover early in the game,” Drew Allar admitted post-game. “We had to settle for three and then King Mack’s return. We just got to capitalize. It was good that we got points in general, but you would love to have touchdowns in those scenarios.”

Key Takeaway? Capitalizing on opportunities when they present themselves right away. “I want to get corrected or fixed is just when we get opportunities to get into the red zone right away,” he added. But despite the missed opportunities, Allar appreciated the roster on its first win in the 2025 season, especially the WR room-the transfers who gelled well with the rest.

“With Trebor and Hudson specifically, like they had a really good game today,” he said.