Penn State had plenty at stake on Thursday night in Miami. Not only was the team two wins away from its first National Championship in nearly 40 years, but their coach head James Franklin had a chance to turn the narrative on his record against top teams during his time at the school.
Penn State 1-15 Against Top-5 Programs Since 2014
It looked as though they’d have a chance late in the game against Notre Dame. With a trip to Atlanta for next week’s College Football National Championship on the line, Penn State had the ball in a tied 24-24 ball game with under a minute remaining. But instead of finding their way into field position, quarterback Drew Allan threw a costly interception that gave Notre Dame at the 42-yard line of the Nittany Lions.
A 41-yard field goal attempt with 12 seconds left was made and proved to be the game winner for the Fighting Irish, punching the ticket and eliminating Penn State in the process.
The loss adds to an unfortunate trend for Franklin. Since becoming the team’s coach in 2014, his teams have played against top-5 programs on 16 occasions. They’ve won just a single time, giving Franklin an unfortunate 1-15 record in the games that matter the most.
James Franklin is now 1-15 vs. AP top-5 opponents as the head coach at Penn State pic.twitter.com/uvTUztVJ2q
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) January 10, 2025
The one occurrence happened all the way back in 2016. Penn State defeated no. 2 Ohio State that year, handing the Buckeyes their only regular season loss.
Franklin is also 4-20 in games against top-10 teams. One of those wins came last week against no. 8 Boise State.
The 52-year-old coach has had overall success in his time with the school, despite not winning a national Championship. The Nittany Lions have won 10+ games in 6 of the last 9 seasons, ranking as high as second in the AP poll in 2016. They achieved their second-highest ranking under Franklin this past season, reaching no. 3 before their loss against no. 1 Oregon in early December.
Notre Dame will move on to play against the winner of the Cotton Bowl, set to be played between Texas and Ohio State on Thursday.
