James Franklin vs. Marcus Freeman CFP Record: Top matchups, stats, and more

The Orange Bowl is set as coach James Franklin and the sixth-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions take on coach Marcus Freeman and the seventh-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish for a spot in the national championship game.

The game is slated for Thursday at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. The two teams are prepared but let's take a closer look at the coaches and see what experiences they bring to the table.

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James Franklin vs. Marcus Freeman

James Franklin's playoff/bowl record

Franklin is 2-0 in the College Football Playoff throughout his coaching career, as this is his first appearance in the CFP. With the 38-10 win over SMU in the first round and the 31-14 win over the Boise State Broncos in the quarterfinals, he's in search of his third CFP victory.

If we expand to all bowl games, Franklin is 8-6 overall as a coach but is 6-7 with the Nittany Lions entering the College Football Playoff Semifinals.

Marcus Freeman's bowl/playoff record

In terms of bowl games, coach Marcus Freeman has a 4-1 record, but he's 2-0 in College Football Playoff.

The 27-17 win over the Indiana Hoosiers in the first round of this year's CFP and the 23-10 win over the Georgia Bulldogs in the CFP Quarterfinals are the only two games Freeman has coached in the CFP.

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James Franklin & Marcus Freeman: Notable matchups

The 2016 Rose Bowl was the only time James Franklin brought a conference champion into a bowl game, facing the USC Trojans. This game was a high-scoring affair that saw the Trojans pick up a 52-49 victory.

Penn State was able to lean on quarterback Trace McSorley, running back Saquon Barkley and wide receiver Chris Godwin to run up the score, but the defense allowed 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to quarterback Sam Darnold.

The 2021 Fiesta Bowl was the first official game Marcus Freeman was the coach of after taking over from Brian Kelly, who had left for the LSU Tigers, The Fighting Irish scored early with 28 of 35 points coming in the first half.

However, they lost 37-35. Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan finished with 509 passing yards and five touchdowns, but it wasn't enough, as the defense needed to get one more stop but was unable to.

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James Franklin vs. Marcus Freeman: Head-to-head

This game is the first time James Franklin and Marcus Freeman will go up against one another as coaches. However, they did meet when they were in different roles.

During the 2016 regular season, James Franklin was the head coach while Marcus Freeman was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach with the Purdue Boilermakers.

In that game, the Nittany Lions dominated with a 62-24 road win. That was the only game where they were involved on the opposing sidelines.