Whenever we talk about Penn State, theres a macro and a micro perspective of the program. Its not always easy to know which one should command your attention.
You can step back and see that James Franklin has finished inside the top-10 five times in his 11 seasons while winning two-thirds of his Big 12 games. Thats quite good without any other context. At the same time, we all know the bad stuff too: 1-10 against Ohio State, 4-21 against top-10 opponents, constantly hitting his head on a ceiling in the most important games.
Cant fire him. Cant trust him.
Its a real dilemma for Penn States administration. They know Franklin runs a good program and generally wins the games hes supposed to win, that firing him would be absurdly expensive (in the $50 million range) and theres significant risk of replacing him with someone who wouldnt be as successful. At the same time, not enough hardware has been won to keep the masses happy with the status quo.
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Thats why Penn States only move after losing to Notre Dame in the CFP semifinals last year was to go all-in on the 2025 team and they did. A lot of returning starters, good recruits, well-regarded transfer portal additions, plus making defensive coordinator Jim Knowles the highest-paid assistant in the country after luring him from Ohio State.
When Franklin and athletic director Pat Kraft signed that deal for more than $3 million per year, they probably didnt imagine giving up 42 points and 435 yards to a UCLA team that was 0-4 with an offensive coordinator calling plays for the first time in his career.
But thats exactly what happened Saturday as the Nittany Lions fell 42-37 in the Rose Bowl, marking the biggest upset of the college football season thus far.
Franklins postgame narrative centered on not handling last weeks 30-24 double overtime loss to Oregon very well, then having to travel to the West Coast, giving up an early touchdown plus an onside kick and blah blah blah blah blah.
Penn State fans are tired of hearing it, and they should be.
Losing to this UCLA team under any circumstance is unfathomable. Three weeks ago, the Bruins lost by 25 in that same stadium to New Mexico. And if the mentality of Franklins program is so soft that losing one close game to Oregon sends their season into a death spiral, then everyone at Penn State is just wasting their time.
Realistically, what can be done here? You cant tangibly invest more in a roster or a coaching staff than what Penn State did this year. They went all-in. They had a team they thought could win a national championship. Being 3-2 at this stage, with a road game at Ohio State still to come, is probably a death knell for their College Football Playoff chances.
Its a wasted season, probably the beginning of the end.
Weve seen this scenario enough times to know the only way it ends happily is for Franklin to start looking into an exit strategy. Would he be interested in calling the Hogs at Arkansas? The team that beat him Saturday needs a new coach. Certainly some more attractive jobs are going to be open in December.
Even though Franklins record overall is good, Penn State fans cant live through another fall like this without some kind of tangible hope that better days are on the horizon. At this particular moment, losing to the worst UCLA team in years only reinforces the worst possible view of Franklins future. Thats why Penn State reigns as Americas most miserable fan base in Week 6.
ACC: If anyone at North Carolina deserves to be fired, its whoever allowed one of the great brands in college sports to become a multi-million dollar jobs program for the friends and family of a 73-year-old who didnt understand what it takes to win in college football. Normally, that would be the fault of the athletic director. But everyone in college athletics knows that North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham had nothing to do with hiring Bill Belichick and that this mistake lands on the map of misguided boosters, egotistical politicians and chancellor Lee Roberts, who all started to feel a tingle up their leg when a six-time Super Bowl winner showed interest in coaching the Tar Heels. But instead of going to the doctor to get that taken care of, they actually hired him and his girlfriend, his two sons and his bestie Mike Lombardi, who is directly responsible for assembling one of the worst power conference rosters in history. In fact, after a 38-10 loss to Clemson, its so bad that Merriam-Webster should honor it by changing the word nepotism to Belichism.
Big 12: The smartest mammal in America might be Ralphie VI, who made the decision to give up her responsibilities as Colorados live mascot after four years for a life of retirement due to what the school called an indifference to running. We want to be respectful of her wishes, director of the schools live mascot program Taylor Stratton said in the official release. Was Ralphie VI really tired of running, or did she know what was about to happen to this program after Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders departed to the NFL? It hasnt been pretty. Remember when it was appointment television to watch these guys? Youd have to be a masochist to voluntarily watch a team get beat 35-21 by TCU after starting off with a 14-0 lead, and Ralphie VI just isnt about that life.
SEC: If Texas doesnt make the College Football Playoff this year after starting at No. 1 in the preseason polls, its probably the biggest waste of money the state has seen since Desertron. For those who dont remember, that was the particle accelerator project near Dallas that was canceled by the federal government in 1993 after $2 billion spent and 14 miles of tunnel dug out of the ground because of mismanagement and cost overruns. Sound familiar? No, we dont expect Congress to cancel the wasteful spending on Steve Sarkisian and Arch Manning though you never know these days but its clear we were sold a bill of goods here. The Longhorns 29-21 loss to Florida after a bye week with Manning struggling again (16-for-29, 263 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) leaves them at 3-2 with the reality that maybe theyre just not very good.
Group of Five: Somebody needs to explain why UMass still sponsors an FBS program rather than devoting more resources to hockey, where theyre a national power, and a sport like basketball where they can make the NCAA tournament every now and then. UMass hasnt won more than four games in a season since 2011 really, 2011 and hasnt even sniffed a bowl game since moving up to the FBS in 2012. Whats the point of that? Some lower-resource schools chase the football dream because they believe its good for the image of the university, but it would be hard to identify what UMass gains from 42-6 and 47-7 spankings from Missouri and Iowa, respectively, the last two weeks. But theyve also been blown out by Temple and Western Michigan with a loss to Bryant.
Mark Stoops: A report emerged this week from longtime Lexington-based reporter Alan Cutler that Stoops approached athletics director Mitch Barnhart at the end of last season and wanted to negotiate a buyout but was rejected. Stoops denied it after Kentuckys 35-14 loss to Georgia, saying it was unequivocally, 100 percent false. But would it really be such a bad idea? This is Stoops 13th season, and the Misery Index is a firm believer in the idea coaches should not stay anywhere longer than a decade unless they are winning national championships. Things get stale. People lose their edge and dont grind as hard as they once did. Fans get tired of hearing the same tropes and stories. Its the circle of life. Stoops has had good years, but hes won one of his last 12 SEC games and perhaps it would be best for both sides to think about an amicable divorce.
Bill OBrien: The worst performance of the weekend has to be the Boston Colleges 48-7 loss to a Pittsburgh team that was also not having a very good season. The margin of defeat was surprising given that Boston College had been competitive in its other games, albeit on the losing end against Michigan State in overtime, Stanford and Cal. This one smells like a frustrated team letting go of the rope a bit, and OBrien was at a loss in his postgame news conference to identify the problem. Im not getting it done, he said. This feels like one of those situations where teams should be able to trade coaches. If you could send OBrien to North Carolina and bring his buddy Belichick to Boston College it would make a lot of sense for both sides. Alas, in both Hills Chapel and Chestnut the beatings will continue until morale improves for the former Patriots colleagues.
Mike Norvell: A couple face-saving scores in the fourth quarter allowed Florida State to put some cosmetics on a 28-22 loss to Miami, but this wasnt a particularly close game. Nor is the Seminoles program in the same league right now as the Hurricanes, who are recruiting at the highest level and have figured out the coaching and game-managing part enough to separate from the rest of the ACC. Thats a problem for any FSU coach, but the real the issue for Norvell right now is squandering a season-opening Alabama win that has already aged pretty well. If Florida State was 4-1, things would look different. But with that overtime loss at Virginia last week, 3-2 seems like a huge letdown. Maybe Florida State will win the rest of its games and sneak into CFP contention, but if the Seminoles truly want to compete with Miami they need to up their NIL game and compete for some of that elite Florida talent. Its evident theyre pretty far behind right now.
Jeff Traylor: The funniest gag in college football is every time a coaching job opens anywhere near the state of Texas, reporters in San Antonio run to this guy and ask for a public loyalty pledge to UTSA. This is dumb for several reasons. First, even if the man was willing walk across hot coals all the way from San Antonio to Stillwater to become the coach at Oklahoma State, he wouldnt say it publicly. Second, theres never been a shred of evidence that any major program has had interest in him beyond an exploratory conversation. And lets remember, UTSA is now 2-3 after a 27-21 loss to Temple. It appears as if the Roadrunners are on their way to three straight years of declining results from 9-4 in 2023 when Traylors name was linked to the Texas A&M job (which he interviewed for, very poorly, according to sources) to 7-6 to now whatever they can make out of this season, which isnt looking so great. If this trajectory continues, itll be valid to ask if Traylors coming back. But at that point it wont be his decision.
Air Force forgot its bread and butter: Navys 34-31 win over the Falcons was notable because it featured a combined 588 passing yards between two teams that have traditionally been at their best running the option. And perhaps thats what bit Air Force in the end because when the Falcons were driving to either tie or win the game, quarterback Liam Szarka panicked trying to pitch the ball. With linebacker Jaxson Campbell in his face, Szarka had little chance to execute the play he was trying to make and pitched it straight into Campbells arms. The resulting fumble ended the game, ensuring Air Force wont win the Commander-in-Chiefs Trophy for an eighth time in the last nine years.
Texas State scored too fast: This was perhaps the most gut-wrenching result of the weekend. In a tie ballgame, Texas States Brad Jackson broke a 63-yard run to reach the Arkansas State 3-yard line with 1:03 left. With the Red Wolves having two timeouts left, Texas State ostensibly could have played the clock and tried a game-winning field goal with around 10 seconds to go. Instead, Texas State scored the touchdown on the very next play but missed the extra point. That left enough time for Arkansas State to drive 75 yards in 53 seconds and walk off with a 31-30 victory. To his credit, Texas State coach G.J. Kinne took the blame and said he wished he could have that sequence over again, but those are game-management mistakes that linger over a season.
An Alabama fan went viral for the wrong reasons: After Vanderbilts 30-14 loss to Alabama, video circulated on social media of a middle-aged man with a large cup in his hand (we can guess what it was filled with) yelling Youre trash among other things at the Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia as he walked off the field. Though it was hard to make out exactly what the two said to each other, Pavia clearly said, Ill do whatever the [expletive] I want. It didnt seem like anything escalated beyond that, and Pavia showed some restraint in not escalating things further. But even so, why is a ticket-buying adult yelling at a college kid from the opposing team after a win? And why did the security guy who was nearby not do anything to calm him down? Pavia dishes plenty of trash talk, so its only fair for him to take some. But trying to provoke a college athlete in that manner is extreme loser behavior for a guy who didnt have anything to do with Alabama winning the game.
Baylors fans left too early: By the time the Bears secured a phenomenally entertaining 35-34 win over Kansas State by blocking 56-yard field goal with a couple seconds remaining, the stands at McLane Stadium were virtually empty. The question is why. Look, when Kansas State took a 31-17 lead late in the third quarter, you can understand why some Baylor fans figured that it might be better to find something else to do with their afternoon. At the same time, Baylor has been a comeback team this year, including a 48-45 overtime win over SMU after trailing by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Baylor isnt going to win a national championship, but this is a 4-2 team that has a chance to put together a decent year and it was pretty embarrassing to have a nearly empty stadium at the end of that game.