The Penn State Nittany Lions came into the season with hopes of winning the Big Ten and the National Championship after a run to the College Football Playoff. We aren't even halfway through October and the Penn State Nittany Lions are already all but, eliminated from the College Football Playoff race in truly stunning fashion.
James Franklin's team started the season 3-0 but, in their wins over far inferior opponents they didn't look like a great team. That was instantly exposed when Oregon came into Happy Valley and beat the Nittany Lions in overtime as a slow start hurt Penn State. Last week, the fact that James Franklin never loses to inferior teams became irrelevant as they were stunned by the UCLA Bruins who were winless at the time.
Coming off a truly shocking loss, everyone expected that this Penn State team would play inspired football and crush Northwestern. Instead, Northwestern trailed by 1 at the half when they likely should've had the lead if not for a muffed punt.
In the second half, Penn State couldn't get anything going on offense scoring just 7 points while Northwestern's offense moved down the field with ease late in the 4th quarter to take the lead. Drew Allar left with an injury and it set Northwestern up to force a turnover on downs and seal the game.
Penn State now sits at 3-3 with a 0-3 record in the Big Ten, and all of the goals this team had coming into the season are no longer achievable. This season had so much promise, but Drew Allar has clearly regressed while several other pieces of this team haven't performed up to expectations. Even with this team maybe regressing, there's no world where this team should lose to UCLA or allow Northwestern to come into Happy Valley and stun them.
How much is James Franklin's buyout if Penn State makes a move?
In 2021, Penn State gave James Franklin a massive 10-year contract extension worth $85 million, which makes buying him out much harder as he's under contract through 2031. The exact figure of his buyout is unknown, but, the estimated figure, according to many, is $56 million which requires a significant financial investment to fire him. The method of payment may be the biggest hurdle for Penn State, as paying that much money up front would be difficult in this revenue-sharing era, while a monthly or yearly payment would be far easier to stomach.
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