The Penn State Nittany Lions entered the season with a No. 2 ranking and expectations of returning to the College Football Playoff after being knocked out by Notre Dame in the semifinal round in January. Penn State hasn’t lived up to the hype, and the bottom is falling out for head coach James Franklin’s program.
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Penn State lost an understandable game to then-No. 6 Oregon by a score of 30-24 in overtime on Sept. 27. However, PSU didn’t respond well, losing 42-37 to a previously winless UCLA team in Week 6. On Saturday, the disaster continued, as the Nittany Lions dropped to 3-3 with a 22-21 loss to the Northwestern Wildcats in front of 108,121 fans at Beaver Stadium.
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The passing game was pretty much non-existent for senior quarterback Drew Allar, who finished 13-of-20 passing for 137 yards and one interception before he had to exit the game because of an injury with 3:31 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats outgained PSU 282-274 in total yards and won the turnover battle, committing one turnover to Penn State’s two turnovers.
Franklin didn’t have his team focused and ready to play disciplined football on Saturday. PSU was flagged six times for 71 yards compared to Northwestern’s 10 penalty yards on two flags.
Late in the fourth quarter, fans at Beaver Stadium started a brutal chant directed at Franklin, calling for the coach to be fired.
Penn State is 0-3 in Big Ten play this season, with a challenging slate of games coming up. PSU will travel to play Iowa in Week 8 before going on the road to play No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 1.
Since Franklin took over as head coach in 2014, PSU is 104–45 and 64-36 in Big Ten play. It’s unclear if Penn State will consider firing Franklin, as his buyout is believed to be approximately $50 million.
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