2 weeks Ago
Penn State suffered a crushing 20-13 loss at the hands of Ohio State in a battle between the No. 3 and No. 4 teams in the nation, respectively.
It was another tough outing against a top-tier opponent for head coach James Franklin, and he has unsurprisingly been taking a beating from fans as a result. The Nittany Lions had several opportunities to punch the ball in for a score throughout the day, but Drew Allar was picked off in the end zone with just seconds left in the first half, and a drive midway through the fourth quarter stalled out on Ohio State's one-yard line. Franklin's decision-making throughout the day was heavily questioned, and before the game even ended, he was getting roasted by Gus Johnson.
The Fox Sports play-by-play announcer ripped Franklin for being unable to lead Penn State to a victory over Ohio State as the Buckeyes ran out the clock to ice the game. "And once again, James Franklin can't win a big game." -- Gus pic.
twitter.com/r5tAIQt0EK The day started out well for Franklin and the Nittany Lions, as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead early in the first quarter. Their offense never found their footing, though, which allowed the Buckeyes to crawl back into the game, and eventually take the lead in the second quarter.
That was a lead Ohio State would not relinquish, despite Penn State's best efforts. And ultimately, their inability to win loops back to Franklin, who has a history of being unable to lead his team to victory in these sorts of big games. © Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images This is only Penn State's first loss of the season, but considering how it came against another College Football Playoff contender in Ohio State, it doesn't bode well for their hopes of going on a deep run this season.
There's still time for the Nittany Lions to turn things around, but there's a decent chance many fans felt the same way as Johnson did about Franklin once the clock hit zero in this one. Penn State will be looking to get back on track in Week 11 now when they take on the Washington Huskies. Related: Dan Mullen Predicts Major Week 10 College Football Upset.
