James Franklin is a good college football coach on paper. Just look at his overall stats at Penn State as their head coach for the past 11 years: 101-41 overall. Bowl appearances in all but one of his years (and that year happened to be 2020). His teams have finished top-10 in the AP poll four times.

Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU and a better shot at a championship, but it's Marcus Freeman and the Irish who will play for a title.

Notre Dame is playing for a national title for the first time in 12 seasons, and Penn State has come up short yet again in a big-time matchup.