Penn State loses 4-star QB to James Franklin, Virginia Tech

While James Franklin certainly played a significant role in Penn State’s return to prominence during the last decade, he isn’t the most beloved figure in the eyes of the fanbase. He took his fair share of heat for failing to take the team to the College Football Playoff for so long and for the epic collapse that occurred last season.

Franklin was promptly fired midway through the year, and although a ton of former Nittany Lions players entered the portal to follow him to Virginia Tech, his former school earned some bragging rights over him by landing a couple of recruits that had both universities as finalists. The most recent saga between these two recruiting foes involved a battle for four-star quarterback Peter Bourque, who narrowed his list down to two teams, including both the Hokies and Penn State.

It looked like Franklin’s former team would win the war, but it was announced earlier today that Bourque chose Virginia Tech instead.

This is now the second top-10 quarterback Penn State has missed out on in the last few weeks from the Class of 2027. Just last month, five-star passer Will Mencl committed to Oregon instead of joining the Nittany Lions, forcing the team to pivot to Bourque.

Now that both of their top options have agreed to join other schools, they will have to turn their attention elsewhere. There is some speculation that Penn State will end up with three-star quarterback William Wood, but it certainly would have been better to get one of the best signal callers in the nation.