This was James Franklin’s second. This was his probability to make an announcement, to point out his Penn State groups can beat one of the best of one of the best, to beat Ryan Day for the primary time and Ohio State for the first time since 2016.
And but, the Nittany Lions whiffed on their massive alternative, dropping one other massive sport. And followers, once more, had been clearly furious with Franklin — however they shouldn’t be too stunned with the unlucky annual custom.
Saturday throughout No. 4 Ohio State’s 20-13 highway win towards No. 3 Penn State, the Buckeyes had that seven-point lead halfway via the fourth quarter, however the Nittany Lions had been making strikes. With lower than seven minutes left within the sport, Penn State was first-and-goal on the Buckeyes’ three-yard line.
Run play for no achieve, run play for a one yard, one other run for one yard. It was then fourth-and-goal on the one-yard line with an opportunity to tie the sport (with a superb additional level) with about 5 minutes left.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar took the snap and dropped again to cross. However as an alternative of seeking to tight finish Tyler Warren, who was lined by a single Buckeye whereas standing simply shy of the purpose line, Allar tried a needle-threading throw to tight finish Khalil Dinkins, who was ultimately zone with three defenders surrounding him. The cross was incomplete, Penn State turned it over on downs and Ohio State ran out the clock to carry on for the victory.
DENIED ON 4TH & GOAL 🔒
The @ohiostatefb protection makes a MASSIVE cease in Completely satisfied Valley 🌰
(Delivered to you by @ATTBusiness #ATTBusiness #NextLevelNetwork) pic.twitter.com/XnSqLWCCcr
— FOX Faculty Soccer (@CFBONFOX) November 2, 2024
With the loss, Franklin is now 1-10 towards Ohio State, 13-27 towards ranked opponents and 1-13 towards AP top-5 groups as Penn State’s head coach. Franklin, who has been in Completely satisfied Valley since 2014, can also be now 0-6 towards Ohio State coach Ryan Day. Not nice.
Sadly for Franklin and the Nittany Lions (and their fan base), that is par for the course. Shedding a extremely anticipated sport and alternative for a desperately wanted signature win is peak mid-season Penn State beneath Franklin.
Penn State normally enters every school soccer season with a large quantity of hype behind it. The Nittany Lions are normally thought of Large Ten title and Faculty Soccer Playoff contenders. However someplace via their schedule, normally round Ohio State and/or Michigan, they drop a sport or two and miss out on a shot at a convention title — and a shot at one thing larger when the playoff was nonetheless restricted to 4 groups.
A seven-point loss to Ohio State received’t wreck Penn State’s season, and a loss that near a top-5 staff shouldn’t drop it too far within the rankings after beforehand being undefeated. And with a 12-team Faculty Soccer Playoff, there’s nonetheless a stable probability the Nittany Lions will make it.
Possibly a win or two within the playoff would make regular-season losses extra digestible for Penn State followers. Possibly a back-door path to the Large Ten championship sport — and a win — would make repeatedly dropping to Ohio State extra tolerable. Or perhaps followers are getting actually uninterested in Franklin’s proficient groups arising brief in massive sport after massive sport, season after season.
Penn State most likely isn’t prepared but to fork over Franklin’s $56,666,667 buyout to fireside him, even when offended followers name for his job. However arising brief in big-time regular-season video games needs to be getting outdated.
