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College Football: Ranking 5 biggest upsets of the 2020 season

By Stephen Spanel

Dec 12, 2020; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators kicker Evan McPherson (19) hold his helmet in dejection after missing a last second field goal that would have tied the game during a game against the LSU Tigers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. Dec. 12, 2020. Florida lost 37-34 to the Tigers. Mandatory Credit: Brad McClenny-USA TODAY NETWORK
Dec 12, 2020; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators kicker Evan McPherson (19) hold his helmet in dejection after missing a last second field goal that would have tied the game during a game against the LSU Tigers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. Dec. 12, 2020. Florida lost 37-34 to the Tigers. Mandatory Credit: Brad McClenny-USA TODAY NETWORK /
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(Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images)
(Photo by G Fiume/Maryland Terrapins/Getty Images) /

2. Maryland 35 at Penn State (-27.5) 19

For Penn State fans, their season went from disappointing to “how bad can this get?” Many thought this was the worst loss of the James Franklin era.

Penn State was expected to compete for a Big Ten title before the season but found themselves at 0-2 after a controversial overtime loss vs. Indiana and a sound defeat against Ohio State.

Still, Penn State had absolutely owned Maryland up to this point. Their 59-0 beatdown of the Terrapins in 2019 was the latest in a series that they incredibly led 40-2-1 going back to 1917. Over the last three meetings, Penn State had outscored Maryland 163-6.

On the other hand, Maryland was 1-1 having lost 43-3 in their first game vs. Northwestern followed by an exciting 45-44 victory over Minnesota. Taulia Tagovailoa, brother of Tua, had a breakout game with five total touchdowns, which made the heavy line in Penn State’s favor a little surprising.

Even then, no one could have predicted just how bad things would get for the Nittany Lions.

Maryland got out to a 21-0 lead by the early second quarter as Tagovailoa found receiver Rakim Jarrett for almost two identical long touchdown passes.

Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford tried to do what he could for his team, but consistent pressure and drops by his receivers did not help as he often just threw up passes and hoped someone would catch it.

Unfortunately for his side, he also committed three turnovers, and a fumble return for a touchdown by the Terps to make it 35-7 by the third quarter basically put the game away.

Despite the loss, even Penn State fans probably could not have imagined losing to Nebraska the next week followed by a blowout loss at Iowa, leaving James Franklin’s job security looking questionable for a time before salvaging their season with a few wins down the stretch.

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