Another top-10 matchup, another loss. Where does Penn State football go from here?
James Franklin hugged his daughter in Beaver Stadium as he waited for all of his players to leave the field. As he saw the last Nittany Lion make his way to the tunnel after Penn State’s 30-24 double-overtime loss to Oregon, he followed. And so did the jeers.
“You f------ suck, Franklin.”
“There he is, Big Game James.”
“F--- you, Franklin.”
Franklin kept his eyes forward and walked down the south tunnel at Beaver Stadium before disappearing into the locker room late Saturday night. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard it from the fans. It might not be the last. Some were already chanting “Fire Franklin” after Oregon went up 17-3 in the fourth quarter.
That might be drastic, but it’s hard to blame the fans for their frustration. After Penn State’s loss to Oregon, Franklin is now 4-21 against AP top-10 teams in his time as the leader of the Nittany Lions.
And Saturday was another in a long line of heartbreaking defeats that will leave fans frustrated and everyone in the program trying to figure out what they have to do to get over the hump.
“At the end of the day, we gotta find a way to win those games,” Franklin said. “And I take ownership, and I take responsibility. I wanted that for those kids in the locker room — how hard they work, how much they sacrifice. And we had our opportunities. But I take responsibility.”
There have been plenty of heartbreakers in those 21 top-10 losses — losses to Ohio State in 2017 and 2018 come to mind — but this one might be the worst of all. Because this team made fans believe.
The Nittany Lions couldn’t move the ball on offense until they fell behind by two scores in the fourth quarter, right before the “Fire Franklin” chant started. Quarterback Drew Allar struggled mightily, often missing his targets by throwing the ball too far behind them.
Then a switch flipped. Allar and the offense immediately drove down to make it 17-10. Then they tied it up at 17 and gave Oregon little time to do anything about it before overtime. Then they scored again in overtime. Three possessions, three touchdowns. Everything was turning.
Until it wasn’t.
Down six, Allar and his offense just needed a touchdown and a two-point conversion to win. He was so close to flipping the script from the beginning. Instead he brought it full circle. He tried to get a pass over Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman, but instead he threw it right to him — ending the game.
Boos rained down after a few moments of disbelief from the fans. Allar faced the sideline, hands on his head, while Franklin spoke to him before patting his back.
Franklin had something to say to help his quarterback. But sometimes words don’t help.
“Not sure, boss,” defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton said on what he can say to a teammate when they make that type of mistake. “You really just gotta focus on the next play, I guess. It was disappointing. I gotta play better. D-line gotta play better. We all gotta play better. But it’s over now. Can’t really change nothing except get better.”
Offensive guard Anthony Donkoh wasn’t far from Allar on that final play. He stood in disbelief, too. So did many others. There was no joy to be found in what was supposed to be a coronation. This was the game where they would all finally do it. All of the players who are seniors like Allar, Dennis-Sutton, Zakee Wheatley and the many others who have come up just short in these big moments — they were supposed to finally do it.
Outside confidence had waned in recent weeks after uneven nonconference games, but this team was still favored against Oregon. It’s still one of the most talented teams in the country. It was still happening in the White Out. And despite all of the struggles early on by the offense a win was right there.
But then Allar threw it at Thieneman. And they were all in a familiar place. One filled with disappointment and frustration and attempts to right the ship because there is a lot of football left to be played. One where everyone is trying to take accountability and protect everyone else. Dennis-Sutton took accountability. So did Allar. And Franklin took blame, saying the narrative about his failures isn’t really narrative, it’s fact.
But his failures have to take their toll. He’s been angry in the past. He’s been agitated. But Saturday night, he just seemed disappointed. Like someone who could feel the weight of what keeps happening. And that’s part of what bothers Dennis-Sutton.
“Any time we lose I feel bad for Coach Franklin,” Dennis-Sutton said. “I feel like I let him down. Even though I know it’s a team effort and things like that, I love Coach. Any time we don’t win, or I don’t do a good enough job, I feel like I let the team down, let Coach Franklin down. No matter who the opponent is, that doesn’t really matter. We just want to win, so we all can be happy, but Coach Franklin put us in a great position. And I don’t really understand how you can point the finger at Coach Franklin when the players are playing. We had the opportunity to win the game. It’s not on Coach Franklin at all.”
The players hear the fans. They can feel their frustration. Center and captain Nick Dawkins said as much postgame. But there’s only so much they can all do. And there’s only so much they can say.
“I’m not sure. I appreciate the fans coming out,” Dennis-Sutton said about a message to the fans. “We tried our best.”
Dennis-Sutton was talking about the whole team, but what he said was especially true of the defense — a group that held arguably the best offense in the country to three points in the first half and was not just trying its best, it was playing like the best.
But its offense didn’t have its back until it was too late.
And so there they were. In disbelief again. Another team celebrating around them after a gutsy win. Usually they’re wearing scarlet and grey. This time they weren’t.
But everything else was the same. The boos. The expletives. The frustration. The disappointment. Here again.
Same as it ever was.
