This was James Franklin’s moment. This was his chance to make a statement, to show his Penn State teams can beat the best of the best, to beat Ryan Day for the first time and Ohio State for the first time since 2016.
And yet, the Nittany Lions whiffed on their big opportunity, losing another big game. And fans, again, were clearly livid with Franklin — but they shouldn’t be too surprised with the unfortunate annual tradition.
Saturday during No. 4 Ohio State’s 20-13 road win against No. 3 Penn State, the Buckeyes had that seven-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but the Nittany Lions were making moves. With less than seven minutes left in the game, Penn State was first-and-goal on the Buckeyes’ three-yard line.
Run play for no gain, run play for a one yard, another run for one yard. It was then fourth-and-goal on the one-yard line with a chance to tie the game (with a good extra point) with about five minutes left.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar took the snap and dropped back to pass. But instead of looking to tight end Tyler Warren, who was covered by a single Buckeye while standing just shy of the goal line, Allar attempted a needle-threading throw to tight end Khalil Dinkins, who was in the end zone with three defenders surrounding him. The pass was incomplete, Penn State turned it over on downs and Ohio State ran out the clock to hold on for the victory.
DENIED ON 4TH & GOAL 🔒
The @ohiostatefb defense makes a MASSIVE stop in Happy Valley 🌰
(Brought to you by @ATTBusiness #ATTBusiness #NextLevelNetwork) pic.twitter.com/XnSqLWCCcr
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 2, 2024
With the loss, Franklin is now 1-10 against Ohio State, 13-27 against ranked opponents and 1-13 against AP top-5 teams as Penn State’s head coach. Franklin, who has been in Happy Valley since 2014, is also now 0-6 against Ohio State coach Ryan Day. Not great.
Unfortunately for Franklin and the Nittany Lions (and their fan base), this is par for the course. Losing a highly anticipated game and opportunity for a desperately needed signature win is peak mid-season Penn State under Franklin.
Penn State usually enters each college football season with a sizable amount of hype behind it. The Nittany Lions are usually considered Big Ten title and College Football Playoff contenders. But somewhere through their schedule, usually around Ohio State and/or Michigan, they drop a game or two and miss out on a shot at a conference title — and a shot at something bigger when the playoff was still limited to four teams.
A seven-point loss to Ohio State won’t wreck Penn State’s season, and a loss that close to a top-5 team shouldn’t drop it too far in the rankings after previously being undefeated. And with a 12-team College Football Playoff, there’s still a solid chance the Nittany Lions will make it.
Maybe a win or two in the playoff would make regular-season losses more digestible for Penn State fans. Maybe a back-door route to the Big Ten championship game — and a win — would make regularly losing to Ohio State more tolerable. Or maybe fans are getting really tired of Franklin’s talented teams coming up short in big game after big game, season after season.
Penn State probably isn’t ready yet to fork over Franklin’s $56,666,667 buyout to fire him, even if angry fans call for his job. But coming up short in big-time regular-season games has to be getting old.
