STATE COLLEGE – Penn State’s 2025 season, one that began with national championship hopes after deep postseason run in 2024, is going to be remembered for the losses.
Considering the current trajectory, there are going to be a large number of them.
Already, Penn State has lost to a UCLA team that was winless prior to beating the Lions at the Rose Bowl.
The Nittany Lions lost to three-touchdown underdog Northwestern on Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
Lose to UCLA and Northwestern and Penn State has little choice but lose its 12th-year head coach.
Based on current trajectory, the Lions could be headed to a 3-9 finish, given their remaining schedule that includes dates with Iowa, Ohio State, Indiana and Nebraska.
In a season that began with such promise, that outcome cannot be acceptable.
The question is how soon the Lions’ program opts to cut ties with Franklin. The decision should not take long.
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Penn State vs. Northwestern, Oct. 11, 2025
Franklin is 4-21 against teams ranked in the AP top 10. His 34-8 record from 2022 through 2024 provided him with some deodorant to cover the stench of those terrible numbers.
But after telling a national audience at Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas this summer that this Penn State team led by quarterback Drew Allar, who was lost for the year with an apparently leg injury in Saturday’s fourth quarter, and some other veteran playmakers was his ‘most complete’, in terms of players and coaches, PSU is 3-3 with wins over Nevada, Florida International and Villanova and losses to Oregon, UCLA and Northwestern.
Franklin has to go.
The buyout is substantial, but the head coach has lost the Penn State room.
His players were pushed around by teams with inferior talent the last two Saturdays, and highly-paid coordinators Andy Kotelnicki and Jim Knowles have not made any noteworthy adjustments.
Penn State may have to wait until 2026 for its next victory.
Asked after the Northwestern loss if he still wants to be the head coach at PSU and if he is confident the Lions can bounce back from this dreadful three-game stretch, Franklin said: “For me, it’s always been about our players, and those guys are hurting right now, and the fans are frustrated. And I get it, I totally get it.
“We have great fans here. We get unbelievable support, and I understand their frustration. We’re as frustrated as anybody, guys in the locker room.”
“Ultimately, it’s about the guys, it’s about the guys in the locker room, and they’re hurting in there,” Franklin continued.
“I’d do anything I could to take that hurt away from them. But like I told them, we gotta stick together, we gotta tune out all the noise and we gotta get to work. That’s the only answer is, get to work.”
The chance to ‘stick together’ has reached an untenable place.
For Penn State, following the latest embarrassment, the only answer is to move on from its longtime head coach and appoint James Franklin’s interim replacement.
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