Last week, many of my peers had a narrative about the two most polarizing figures currently with Penn State football: coach James Franklin and quarterback Drew Allar.
Franklin and Allar had everything in their corner going into Oregon: home-field advantage, a revenge factor, the addition of defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, a returning veteran group and a trio of seasoned wide receivers.
Another advantage that Franklin and Allar had going in was Dan Lanning’s group had sent 10 players to the 2025 Draft that included starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel, wide receiver Tez Johnson, defensive linemen Derrick Harmon, Jordan Burch, and offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr.
Lanning had inexperience at quarterback, receiver and both lines.
Yet, Penn State looked the part of being inexperienced and lost in the home crowd.
Although the team was resilient to overcome a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime, the result was the same but the question really has been answered.
It’s about time Penn State fans accept who James Franklin is as a coach and what Drew Allar can be as a quarterback.
Franklin dropped to 4-21 against Top 10 opponents, an 84% failure rate, something he alluded to postgame as fact.
“I get that narrative, and it’s really not a narrative — it’s factual. It’s the facts,” Franklin said. “I try to look at the entire picture and what we’ve been able to do here. But at the end of the day, we got to find a way to win those games. I totally get it. And I take ownership. I take responsibility.”
While Franklin once again owned the outcome, his acceptance of his narrative is damning of the highest order.
Franklin has proven that he cannot elevate the program any more than it is already at.
Last night’s loss was Penn State’s 15th consecutive loss to a Top 10 team from the Big Ten.
I have written before Franklin has one of the most secure legacies of what he has accomplished, he has a spot waiting for the College Football Hall of Fame, that did not change last night.
The hard luck style of how Penn State has lost— six consecutive Top 10 losses by single digits— is reminiscent of former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer.
Both Franklin and Schottenheimer positioned their teams for the biggest moments and not only failed, but did it in the most hard breaking fashion.
The narrative coming into 2025 was Franklin had failed to develop receivers to complement his five-star quarterback.
Franklin and his staff went into the transfer portal and landed three accomplished receivers in Kyron Hudson, Devonte Ross, and Trebor Pena.
Last night, Allar was 6 for 6 targeting Pena and Ross but went 0 for 4 locating Hudson.
Allar was very much a Jekyll and Hyde last night.
The good Allar was the dime he threw to Ross on the 35-yard touchdown.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The bad was another critical failure on the interception.
In Allar’s career, he is 0-6 against Top 6 teams, with his lone Top 10 victory coming in the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State.
In those six games, Allar has completed 49.1% of his passes, averaging 149 yards in those games, with seven touchdown passes to five interceptions.
Despite having all the physical tools that scouts marvel over, the biggest knock NFL scouts have on Allar is his big game performances.
That didn’t change last night.
Allar is a very good quarterback with potential. Some NFL team will believe they can fix what is wrong with Allar. But his inability to read downfield and missing wide open receivers who can make big plays cost Penn State last night.
Allar’s counterpart Oregon’s Dante Moore looked like the five-star prodigy last night.
With Franklin at the top, Penn State is in a worse position than many bad programs are.
In the dysfunction at Wisconsin, UCLA, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma State, the answer is new blood or getting the resources they need to compete in this new environment.
Franklin has all those.
The inability to elevate puts Penn State in a precarious position. It isn’t going to fire Franklin, and if it did, there is no guarantee they’re upgrading.
Sometimes accepting what people are makes it hurt less. As long as Franklin is at the helm, this is what Penn State is: just a very good program, not an elite one.
