What Can James Franklin's Record Against In-State Foes Tell Us About Saturday's Game?
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
James Franklin is gearing up for his 15th matchup as a program's head coach against opponents within the state lines, contests that have usually swung in Franklin's favor, with an 11-3 record following the victory over VMI.
It's been exactly a decade now since Franklin's last defeat at the hands of an in-state foe, a 42-39 loss at the hands of Pittsburgh on September 10, 2016, but what has happened since for Franklin, and what were his few losses before that?
Vanderbilt (3-1)
After leaving the offensive coordinator role with Maryland and sitting in the driver's seat with the Commodores, Franklin gathered his first taste of an in state rivarly with the 106th matchup between Vanderbilt and the Tennessee Volunteers.
For nearly a century, Tennessee had steadily favored this recurring contest, as the Volunteers had not only taken the last five meetings, but held a 33-3 record over Vanderbilt over the last 33 matchups.
In Franklin's first season with the Commodores following a 2-10 season in 2010, forced overtime with the Volunteers, the first time such has ever happened between the two teams; however, there were five ties before the removal of such endings in 1996.
This marked the first back-to-back wins over Tennessee in 2012 (41-18) and 2013 (14-10) since a string of five consecutive victories between 1920 and 1926, as
Vanderbilt dispatched of the Clarksville, Tennessee, opponent Austin Peay, 38-3, in Week 2 of the 2013 season, 10 weeks before the final Tennessee game, for Franklin's second victory of his career and put his coaching record in such contests to 2-1, a mark that has never dropped below .500 since.
Penn State (7-2)
The Franklin-led Nittany Lions split the series against Temple over his first two seasons, after Penn State tackled the Owls 30-13 in their first matchup with Franklin in 2014. The Week 1 loss in 2015, however, was Franklin's first loss with Penn State to an opponent outside of the Big 10, going 5-0 in such matchups in 2014.
The 2016 season reopened the Pitt-Penn State rivalry, which had lain dormant since 2000, and was the last time Franklin saw Temple during his tenure with the Nittany Lions, narrowly edging out the Owls 34-27 a week after falling 42-39 to the Panthers.
Pitt had a 28-7 lead at halftime in this contest, but the deficit was too much for the Saquon Barkley-led offense to overcome in a high-scoring second half.
As Franklin and Penn State moved on from the Pitt loss, the Nittany Lions went 6-0 against in-state opponents before the two sides moved apart in 2025, which included three victories over the Panthers in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Two healthy victories over Villanova in 2021 (38-17) and 2025 (52-6) helped propel Penn State's scoring margin to 225-80 in the last six meetings.
Virginia Tech (1-0)
Franklin brought this pattern down with him to Blacksburg in his first contest suited up on the Hokies sideline, wrecking the VMI Keydets 73-3, which a similar conclusion could be in stored for Old Dominion on Saturday.
The real test for Franklin with Virginia Tech will have to wait until November 28, for the Commonwealth Clash with the Virginia Cavaliers.
Today's best reads
- Virginia Tech Opens as a Big Favorite Against Old Dominion in Week Two Matchup
- SP+ Projects Virginia Tech-Old Dominion Final Score
- Five Most Important Notes From James Franklin's Sept. 2 Media Availability
- 'We've Got To Go Out And Execute': James Franklin Reflects on Quarterbacks, Backup Competition
- Virginia Tech Pummels VMI 73-3 To Open James Franklin Era
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/virginiatech as What Can James Franklin's Record Against In-State Foes Tell Us About Saturday's Game?.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos