The desperation play failed. Celebration ensued for UCLA as the Bruins upset seventh-ranked Penn State 42-37 at the Rose Bowl.
The first word in my mind: Indescribable.
How could the Nittany Lions—a roster with a wealth of veteran experience, a program that fought to a double-overtime loss with Oregon last weekend—possibly fall to the worst power-conference team of 2025?
And then, the reality of this profession sunk in. It’s the literal responsibility of the media to transform what we watched into something you read.
I can assure you James Franklin wants no part of this right now.
Because, at this moment, Penn State—especially a frustrated fan base—wants little to do with Franklin.
Losing big games has become a trademark of his tenure in Happy Valley. The recent setback to Oregon dropped the Nittany Lions to 4-21 against Top 10 competition—a record that tumbles to 1-15 in Top 5 matchups.
For their supporters, it’s frustrating. It stinks. No way around that.
Simultaneously, the annoyance of those results can be dulled to some degree with Penn State’s annual competitiveness. The program has notched 10-plus wins in three straight years and reached the College Football Playoff semifinals last season. Not since 2021 had PSU lost to an unranked opponent.
That balance has prevented the 12th-year coach from sitting on a genuinely hot seat. The university knows the grass isn’t always greener.
But this one? Unfathomable. Almost unforgivable.
The spread settled near 24 points, no surprise given the reeling adversary. UCLA fired its head coach in mid-September after losses to Utah, UNLV and New Mexico, then the Bruins fell to Northwestern.
Sixty minutes later, Franklin could not survive that opponent. We can point to the cross-country flight for Penn State, a motivated underdog or whatever else. But there is simply no world in which this UCLA outfit does that to the Nittany Lions without a response in a now-decidedly Un-Happy Valley.
I’m not saying that means the university should make a change today. Franklin, whose buyout is around $50 million, will not be Lane Kiffin’d on the tarmac at LAX before the flight home.
But if Franklin cannot excel with this roster, will he ever?
Penn State sunk millions and millions of dollars into retaining top veterans, led by quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, edge-rusher Dani Dennis-Sutton and so on. The team lured standouts from the portal, such as wideout Trebor Pena and linebacker Amare Campbell. Franklin even swiped defensive coordinator Jim Knowles from Big Ten rival Penn State.
Everything was built around one obvious idea: Compete for a national title. Fall to Oregon, few worries. Lose to UCLA, though? It’s time to panic.
Forget a championship chase, the Nittany Lions might not make the CFP.
That would be an inexcusable outcome in 2025, given what Penn State invested. Avoiding that conclusion will require PSU to finish at least 9-3, which means defeating either No. 1 Ohio State or No. 8 Indiana. History isn’t in Franklin’s favor.
Plus, after losing to UCLA, how can we be confident in the Nittany Lions not imploding, say, at Iowa or against Nebraska?
Franklin will have the opportunity to silence the critics. The season is certainly on the verge of becoming a disaster, but Penn State isn’t officially there. Don’t publish the obituary just yet.
Keep it in the drafts, though.
Because if Penn State’s debacle turns into a nightmare, Franklin’s newfound hot seat might become untenable.
And on that day, we’ll know exactly how describe what happened.
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