In one of the most shocking upsets in recent college football history, winless UCLA stunned No. 7 Penn State this past weekend. For years the narrative was that James Franklin could not “win the big one”, but this time, he did the opposite and lost a game that no one thought was even possible to lose.
This is a kind of defeat Penn State fans have not experienced in quite some time, and it’s sparked some debate about where it ranks among the worst losses in the program’s recent history. With that in mind, here are, in my opinion, the five worst Penn State football losses of the James Franklin era.
5. 2016 vs Pitt
The way the 2016 season ultimately played out is what makes this loss really sting. That season was the one time James Franklin was able to beat Ohio State, and although Penn State also lost to Michigan, it was this Week 2 defeat to a Pitt team that finished 8-5 that kept them out of the College Football Playoff. What makes it even worse is that it came against an in-state rival in the first meeting between the two programs in 16 years.
4. 2021 vs Illinois
This loss was one that really derailed the season for the Nittany Lions. Penn State was coming off a tough defeat to at the time No. 3 Iowa at Kinnick Stadium, a game where the Nittany Lions were ranked No. 4. They followed that up with this shocking loss at home as a 24-point favorite to a 2-5 Illinois team in nine overtimes. The Illini threw for just 38 yards but dominated Penn State on the ground with 357 rushing yards. Penn State went on to lose four of its final six games, and finished at 7-6 thanks to a brutal 2-6 stretch to close out the season.
3. 2017 vs Ohio State
Penn State jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in Columbus thanks to an opening kickoff return touchdown by Saquon Barkley, led 21-3 early in the second half, and were up 35-20 with just over 11 minutes remaining. It all came crashing down late in the fourth quarter, as the Nittany Lions ended up on the wrong side of a shocking fourth-quarter comeback by Ohio State. In my mind, few things are more crushing than losing a game you clearly should have won, and Penn State fans probably thought they were going to win for about 95% of this game.
An argument could be made for the following week's loss to Michigan State, which was ultimately the nail in the coffin for playoff hopes that season, but I think this one is worse with the way the game unfolded. Blowing a double-digit lead late against the Buckeyes, in a season where the Saquon Barkley/Trace McSorley duo was at its peak, and missing out on the College Football Playoff is heartbreaking.
2. 2025 vs Oregon
There’s no problem with losing to a great team, which Oregon certainly is, but this was supposed to be the one. The game where James Franklin and Penn State finally broke through and won “the big one”. This was the reason so many high-level players came back this season, and it felt like the perfect setup: a White Out in Happy Valley, against an Oregon team with several new pieces and a relatively young starting quarterback.
What makes this loss so disappointing is how flat Penn State came out, despite seemingly having all offseason to prepare for this game given their cupcake schedule through the first three weeks, and a bye leading into the game. Yes, they fought and came back to get it to overtime, but in the end, it ended the way so many big games have under Franklin, and what makes it even worse is what happened next.
1. 2025 vs UCLA
There really is no excuse for this one, and it feels like the ultimate low point for Penn State under James Franklin. After starting the season as a popular pick to win the national championship, it doesn’t get much worse than losing to a winless UCLA team that hadn’t held a lead all season.
Drew Allar fought to keep Penn State alive in this game, but even if they had pulled out a win, fans would still be extremely disappointed and we’d likely still be having a similar conversation about Franklin. Despite bringing in defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and making him the highest-paid coordinator in college football history, Penn State’s defense gave up 42 points to an offense that had looked dysfunctional all season and was led by a coordinator with just a few days to prepare for play-calling duties.
Now, this loss can still go one of two ways: either completely derail the season, which is something we’ve seen happen before with Penn State under James Franklin, or it could galvanize this team and lead to a bounce-back run similar to what we saw from Notre Dame and Ohio State last season.