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Can Nittany Nation fuel the whiteout to a victory?

COMMENTARY

UNIVERSITY PARK — During his four public appearances this week — his Tuesday press conference, Wednesday’s Quarterback Club and brief post-practice media scrum and the Thursday night call-in show — James Franklin’s platform has been consistent.

He’s appealing for the fans to raise it a level.

Franklin knows he needs all hands, and throats, on deck as the three-touchdown underdog Nittany Lions (4-2) try to slay second-ranked Ohio State (6-0) at Beaver Stadium.

“I hope the Quarterback Club the following week is canceled because their voices are all gone, and they can’t talk,” Franklin said. “Because that’s the approach we need.”

Franklin believes the Lions have a good home-field advantage, “no different than us going on the road into some of these venues,” but how much will depend on Penn State’s performance.

After beating the drums, Franklin did acknowledge the obvious: “The crowd helps, but at the end of the day, it’s about the execution.”

Two years ago, with the Lions down 17-0, the crowd didn’t die, and when Anthony Zettel encouraged it with a pick-6 to get Penn State back in the game, that was just enough to rattle the Buckeyes.

Christian Hackenberg seized the moment with a touchdown pass to Saeed Blacknall before the Buckeyes eventually escaped with an overtime victory.

The Lions’ performance in the second half that night — another whiteout — may have been their best in Franklin’s three seasons.

And yet, the Lions did not come close to matching their performance against the Buckeyes the rest of that year, later squeezing out a one-score win at Indiana and losing 16-14 at Illinois.

Franklin talks a lot about his players staying on an even keel, and approaching every single practice and game the same way whether the opponent is Ohio State or Michigan or (he didn’t mention a name but I will) Rutgers.

But, in reality, Penn State’s pendulum has swung much wider.

The Lions have been significantly better at home than on the road. They’re 13-5 under Franklin at home, including 4-0 this season, plus 3-1 in neutral-site games but just 2-8 in true road games.

In the last two years, they’ve been competitive at home in losses to both Ohio State and Michigan, losing 31-24 in the aforementioned 2014 game to the Buckeyes and 28-16 to the Wolverines last year. On the road, it’s a whole different story as Ohio State won 38-10 last year and Michigan rolled unobstructed, 49-10, in the Big House this year.

A month removed from the Michigan debacle, can home field provide that big a boost to Penn State? Can it narrow the gap to a competitive level against a Buckeye team that already has been established as a touchdown favorite against Wolverines?

Penn State is 1-4 in its last five whiteout games with the exception being the 43-40 four-overtime classic over Michigan in 2013 — Hackenberg and Bill O’Brien’s signature home moment.

There are extenuating circumstances, for sure, namely that the last half-decade covers the sanctions era, and whiteouts are reserved for the best available opponent (Ohio State, Michigan and, in 2011, Alabama).

But just as they so far have weathered the sanctions era without a losing season, the Lions have performed better than their record in their whiteout games over the last five years.

Can they hang within a couple scores tonight, maybe flirt with a stunning upset and, thus, keep all 107,000 of the 12th men around?

If so, it will save Franklin a trip to the next Quarterback Club meeting.

***

Neil Rudel covers Penn State from the Altoona Mirror.

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