The Penn State football team has one more game this season as they will take on Ole Miss football in the Peach Bowl on December 30th. It will be the last time the 2023 Nittany Lions take the field, but the team is likely going to look different. The Peach Bowl is not a College Football Playoff semifinal, so many players that are going to the NFL will decide to opt out. That will likely be the case for Penn State, but head coach James Franklin has a message for his Nittany Lions in that regard.

Penn State football tight end Theo Johnson is one of those players deciding what to do in regards to the Peach Bowl. Franklin knows that he'll do what's best for him, and he also thinks that there is a right way to go about things.

“I think Theo and his family know that we are going to do what’s best for Theo,” James Franklin said, according to an article from Trib Live. “But I also think there’s a balance where you can do both — finish with your teammates, finish what you start, and finish the season and do it the right way.”

Obviously, Franklin wants to have his best players on the field for his Penn State team, but he also recognizes that this is a very difficult decision to make for his guys.

“I think it’s more challenging than it’s ever been before,” Franklin said in regards to decisions to play in a bowl game. “These guys are hearing from people in every direction and being pulled in 1,000 different directions. I think it’s harder than it’s ever been. But Theo’s a great example of a number of guys that we’ve had that have been in similar positions. We’re going to work with these guys, as well. And we’ve done that, really, since I’ve been here.”

Penn State football and Franklin went through this with Saquon Barkley and his family a few years back, and there is a whole different approach to things when an NFL player is going to play in a bowl game.

“I remember we had a specific plan for Saquon Barkley, who was going to be predicted as maybe the No. 1 pick in the draft and ended up falling all the way to No. 2,” Franklin continued. “But there was conversations with Saquon and his family about how we were going to manage the practices, how we were going to manage the game, and all those types of things.”

Lastly, Franklin also thinks that playing in the bowl game could be a smart decision for his Penn State players. It's another chance to improve their stock in a big game environment.

“I still believe that this game, for most of them, creates an opportunity,” Franklin concluded. “Obviously, for us to finish this thing as a family, and as a team and represent Penn State one more time, but also to create more value for themselves. You go out and have a great Peach Bowl game in that type of venue, in that setting, against this type of opponent on national television, I think it can really help the student-athlete and what they’re trying to do for their future in the NFL, as well.”

We'll see if Franklin's message will sway any NFL-bound Penn State players to play in the Peach Bowl. The Nittany Lions and Rebels will kick things off at noon ET on the 30th and the game will be played in Atlanta, Georgia.