STATE COLLEGE — Penn State coach James Franklin says one of the biggest challenges he faces in his job is meeting high expectations of a huge fan base.

Even larger, perhaps, than meeting No. 13 Ohio State on Saturday night.

Franklin understands that patience is minimal, even though reduced scholarships in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal have led to inconsistency in the team’s offense and other areas.

“Everybody talked about these things before the season started, but once the season starts, it’s: `Let’s find a way to get it done,”’ he said Tuesday.

“There’s an expectation, there’s a culture of winning here. It’s been here for a long time and we embrace that,” Franklin said. “It’s one of the reasons why we want to be here and why we’re so excited about coming to Penn State.”

Penn State faces many challenges on the field on Saturday. Ohio State (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) has won 18 straight conference games and set a school record by scoring 50 points or more in its last four games. Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer has not lost an October game since 2010.

Franklin doesn’t mind asking for help from those same fans who have high hopes.

“We would love to have a huge home-field advantage of 107,000 Penn State fans wearing white, screaming and going crazy, making it really difficult for them to communicate,” he said.

The Nittany Lions (4-2, 1-2) are coming off their second off week in a three-week span. Franklin said the workload during that time was minimized.

Franklin said the Lions won’t “shy away” from the running game. He said that he might have abandoned that aspect of the offense too early against Michigan.