Some Penn State fans are wondering if Saturday’s 22-21 loss to Northwestern will be James Franklin’s final game as head coach.
Quarterback Drew Allar left with an injury late in the fourth quarter as Franklin and the Nittany Lions conceded a third straight loss.
Franklin is owed a buyout of just under $50 million if he is fired without cause, USA Today’s Ehsan Kassim previously reported. He is currently set to earn $8.5 million per year on a contract that runs through 2031.
Some fans were ready for Penn State to pay up after the program fell to 3-3 with Saturday’s loss, including an 0-3 record against Big Ten opponents.
A rushing touchdown from Nicholas Singleton late in the second quarter helped the Nittany Lions head into Saturday’s second half with a one-point lead.
After allowing consecutive Northwestern scoring drives in the fourth quarter, Penn State faced a one-point deficit by the time the team got the ball back with 4:51 left on the clock.
Allar was injured after scrambling on a third-down play. Franklin tried to get the Nittany Lions to run the ball for a fourth down, but Northwestern ultimately got the ball back and was able to run out the clock.
The loss came one week after Penn State, ranked No. 7 at the time, dropped a 42-37 decision to a previously-winless UCLA team.
Penn State is now the first program to lose consecutive games as a 20-plus point favorite in the last 30 years, according to Action Network’s Evan Abrams.
After an Oct. 18 game at Iowa, Penn State is slated to take on consecutive ranked opponents in No. 1 Ohio State and No. 7 Indiana.
That stretch will be even more difficult given that Franklin announced after the game that Allar will miss the rest of the season with the injury he suffered on the Nittany Lions’ final drive.
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