James Franklin’s track record against in-state opponents has been one of the steadier things about his coaching resume, and it gives Saturday’s game a pretty clear backdrop. Entering his 15th matchup as a head coach against a team from within state lines, Franklin sits at 11-3 after the win over VMI.
That kind of success has been a long time coming from the perspective of his last loss in one of these games. Franklin has not dropped an in-state contest since Sept. 10, 2016, when Pittsburgh beat Penn State 42-39. Before that run, though, the path was a lot bumpier.
Franklin’s first brush with an in-state rivalry came at Vanderbilt, where his Commodores faced Tennessee in the 106th meeting between the schools. The Volunteers had long owned the series, winning the previous five matchups and holding a 33-3 edge over Vanderbilt across the last 33 meetings.
But Franklin’s first season in charge at Vanderbilt changed the tone. After taking over a team that had gone 2-10 in 2010, he pushed Tennessee to overtime in 2011, the first time the game had ever gone that far. There had been five ties before overtime was removed in 1996.
The Commodores then beat Tennessee in back-to-back seasons, winning 41-18 in 2012 and 14-10 in 2013. It was Vanderbilt’s first consecutive run of wins over the Volunteers since a stretch of five straight from 1920 to 1926.
By the time Vanderbilt beat Austin Peay 38-3 in Week 2 of the 2013 season, Franklin’s second career victory had already pushed his record in these in-state games to 2-1, and that mark has stayed at .500 or better ever since.
The pattern carried with him to Penn State. Franklin’s Nittany Lions split their first two games against Temple during his first two seasons, opening with a 30-13 win over the Owls in 2014. Then came the Week 1 loss in 2015, which was Franklin’s first defeat at Penn State against an opponent outside the Big Ten after he had gone 5-0 in those games in 2014.
In 2016, the Pitt-Penn State rivalry returned after a long pause dating back to 2000, and Franklin also saw Temple again that season. Penn State beat Temple 34-27 one week after the loss to Pittsburgh, and the Pitt game itself turned into a steep climb after the Panthers raced to a 28-7 halftime lead. Saquon Barkley and the offense made the second half lively, but the comeback fell short.
After that Pitt loss, Penn State rolled through six straight games against in-state opponents before the two schools moved apart in 2025. That stretch included three wins over Pittsburgh in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
More recently, Penn State handled Villanova twice, winning 38-17 in 2021 and 52-6 in 2025. Those results helped push Franklin’s scoring margin in the last six meetings to 225-80.
Franklin brought that same formula with him to Virginia Tech and opened his Hokies tenure by hammering VMI 73-3. That kind of outcome is why Old Dominion could be staring at a tough afternoon on Saturday.
The bigger Commonwealth Clash, though, is still ahead. Franklin’s real test with Virginia Tech comes on Nov. 28 against Virginia.
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Virginia Tech Gets A Chance To Answer Last Years Old Dominion Loss
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A number of the predictions around the matchup point to the Hokies being in position to control the game, helped by the way Old Dominion has been reshaped since the last meeting. The Monarchs will look different at key spots, including quarterback, which only adds to the sense that Virginia Tech has a real opening to answer an old bruise and do it in front of its own crowd. [Read more 🡒]