It may seem a little premature, but the loss to UCLA may be the beginning of the end for James Franklin. HIs struggles against Top 10 teams has been his biggest downfall while in Happy Valley, but that all changed after the unexplainable loss to to the Bruins. This was a team that has already fired their coach and before the win over the Nittany Lions hadn't led in a game at any point this season.
There are no silver linings for Franklin and his team in one of the worst losses in recent college football history.
Penn State is the first top 10 team to lose to an 0-4 or worse opponent in 40 years. Brutal.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 4, 2025
The playoff chances for Penn State is on life support with their second loss of the season and of course which makes it that more challenging is both are conference losses. Going into the season most everybody had Penn State making the playoff and a majority had them even winning the Big 10.
Now they have two losses, the offense hasn't lived up to the hype, and the schedule which still includes road trips to Iowa City and Columbus, Ohio as well as tough road games against Indiana and Nebraska. It is not too farfetched at this point suggesting that there could be five losses on the schedule for this team.
This kind of felt like at the start of the season it was an all or nothing type of season for Penn State and James Franklin. He hasn't exactly been on the hot seat since when he does lose it has been against the best of the best, but after Saturday's debacle they look very vulnerable.
This could be the type of situation where the bottom falls out, and it could get ugly. Either way the rest of the season goes it will make for a great story as either a resilient playoff run for this Penn State team, or they will crash and burn which will really put pressure on the Athletic Director to really consider cutting ties with Franklin.
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