Penn State was stunned by its lopsided loss to Michigan ... but should it be?

Cheers echoed off the tunnel of The Big House, as Penn State and Michigan players alike filed through the long hallway after the game. Not a single Nittany Lion uttered a word, one biting his lower lip and another hiding his mouth beneath a towel.

This, a 42-7 loss to Michigan, was something the current team thought to be inconceivable. Before the game, if you would’ve told linebacker Cam Brown what the final score would be, “I probably would’ve laughed. I didn’t think this was going to be the outcome.”

But it shouldn’t have surprised those who have followed Penn State since the opener. In some ways, this game was a long time coming. Mistakes and offensive miscues have plagued this team from the very beginning; Saturday was simply the first time an opponent took serious advantage.

“You were leading the country in scoring five weeks ago. Can you explain what’s happened to your offense?” one reporter asked. Head coach James Franklin centered his reply around, “We’ve played really good teams.”

He’s not wrong, but that’s merely a half-truth. Good teams didn’t force Penn State to drop two passes Saturday. Good teams didn’t make Penn State play musical chairs with its quarterbacks. Good teams didn’t cause a fumble on the handoff exchange or take timeouts at odd times or not challenge plays with potentially bad spots or cause undisciplined penalties.

Saturday’s performance wasn’t an exception; the score was. Against Iowa, Penn State allowed two safeties on two mishandled punts. Against Indiana, the Nittany Lions committed four drops. With Michigan State, a goal-line stand was nixed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. And, against Ohio State, Penn State opted to run a dive play on fourth-and-5.

Franklin said after the Ohio State game that the Nittany Lions were a great team trying to be elite. In truth, it’s a good team trying to be great. Great teams and elite teams don’t commit Week 1 mistakes in Week 10. “We got to look ourselves in the mirror,” Franklin said Saturday night. “We got to make some adjustments, and we got to make some corrections and then give ourselves the best opportunity to be successful next week.”

That has to start with this coaching staff. The offense has looked lost at times under first-year offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne. Special-teams coordinator Phil Galiano is either on the hot seat — or should be on the hot seat. And receivers coach David Corley, who’s never coached wideouts at any school in back-to-back seasons, has overseen the most drastic dip in production for a position group since Franklin first arrived in Happy Valley.

Even Penn State legend Larry Johnson — the running back, not the assistant — tweeted during the game, “To be honest. These are the games that show you what position coach needs to be fired.”

The Nittany Lions were stunned, hurt and speechless after Saturday’s five-touchdown loss. Wideout DeAndre Thompkins stared straight ahead in the tunnel while Michigan players whooped and hollered around him. Running back Miles Sanders spoke softly in the media room, telling reporters, “The offense is still the same” since the Illinois game. Teams have simply adjusted.

“Very disappointed,” Sanders said. “A loss is never good, and this is going to hurt a lot. This one is probably the worst, I’d say. That’s not the type of team we are; we’re a way better team.”

Are they? Even with the quarterback who will soon be the winningest in school history, Penn State went 0-3 against the Big Three this season in Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State.

Everyone knows the issues. But nobody seems to know how to fix them. Maybe they can’t be fixed. Team captain Nick Scott felt experience was the best way to tighten up those mistakes — but experience can’t usually be taught. Sanders shrugged and replied that he honestly didn’t know.

Franklin has earned the benefit of the doubt at this point. Under his leadership, the program has grown. But that growth doesn’t equate to perfection, and the “Pennsylvania boy with a Penn State heart” needs to get his house in order so the Nittany Lions can beat an elite Michigan, an overrated Ohio State and an up-and-down Sparty.

And how does Penn State do that? One of Penn State’s linebackers had a simple answer.

“Play better,” Brown said. “What else do you guys want me to say? We got outplayed in all those games.

“This game especially.”