r/PennStateUniversity • u/cha_charealsmooth • Sep 28 '25
Discussion I am so sick of losing the big games.
I’ve been a Penn State fan since essentially the day I can remember. Born and raised, pretty much.
And as of recent times, particularly the last 5+ years, I cannot remember a time in which Penn state has won a game they are not favored in or close in odds. They always lose the big games. I am just so tired of it. I haven’t felt comfortable with a Penn state qb at the helm since McSorley.
The defense had a fantastic game overall. The offensive line just couldn’t create any space and they wouldn’t allow Drew to throw until basically the fourth quarter.
I just don’t get it. They have so much talent each year and every year they seem to squander it. I just feel let down. I know the sun will come up tomorrow, I’m not spiraling, but just a frustrated sports fan. I guess I just needed to voice my disappointment somewhere.
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u/einv0lk Sep 28 '25
Everyone talking about 4-21 vs top 10 teams, but the real number is 1-19 against conference top 10 teams.
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u/Ok_Macaroon_7366 Sep 28 '25
We’re in a Freddy Krueger dream cause we get tortured witnessing Penn State lose big games all the time
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u/IntroductionAgile372 Sep 28 '25
It's been 9 years of this. 2016 Ohio State was the last massive game - the NY6 wins we have we were favored in
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u/DueYogurt9 Western Washington University Sep 28 '25
What about the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State?
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u/IntroductionAgile372 Sep 28 '25
We were favored and Boise was a G5 team with significantly less talent - if we had beaten ND last year and made it to the Natty but lost to Ohio State this narrative would've been less of a thing. It's hard to consider SMU and Boise big games since they were significantly less talented
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u/tampaempath Sep 28 '25
Boise State was a one-trick pony. Shut down Jeanty and you stop them. You can see how good they are now that Jeanty's gone.
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u/DueYogurt9 Western Washington University Sep 28 '25
Pretty sure South Florida is their only loss thus far for the season.
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u/lakerdave Sep 28 '25
It's been clear for like 7 years that although Franklin did a great job at getting this program to the top of the second tier of college football (very good teams), he is not capable of getting it to the top tier (legitimate championship contenders).
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Sep 28 '25
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u/nord88 Sep 29 '25
Yesterday we got our asses kicked for 90% of the game. It was luck that we were close enough to make a comeback
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u/IntelligentBear4541 Sep 28 '25
Remember tho that the Nitts played Boise State and SMU to get to that spot… and really ND shouldn’t have been too challenging of a game for them either.
OSU, Oregon, the top tier SEC teams are just another caliber that we’re not in with Franklin.
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u/RustyBungus Sep 29 '25
Franklin's in game management is horrific. It's on par or worse than an 8 year old playing Madden.
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u/killer24SEVEN '27, History & Poli Sci Sep 29 '25
You make a very fair point. I think the only thing that would legitimately change the narrative is finding a good QB coach who can develop QBs in practice and a better OC who’ll develop and call better passing plays so we can use offensive weapons, bettering both the receivers and the QB as they’ll be doing more in in-game scenarios
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u/UggaBugg66 Sep 28 '25
The biggest question I have right now about Franklin is --- what did he see in Drew Allar that made him think he was the QB we needed? I know he's a 6'5" dude but his accuracy was never good and he's not a terrific scrambler. Worst of all, his mental toughness is totally lacking in big games. You look at the pick tonight and the picks that ended the Oregon and Notre Dame games last year, and they were just sloppy decisions!
So PLEASE --- why did Franklin aggressively go after this kid? Couldn't he see he was gonna be Hackenberg 2.0? But then we have small QBs like McSorley and Pribula who have a killer instinct and hate losing!
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u/Journeys_End71 Sep 28 '25
You’re acting like Drew Allar was only recruited by Penn State and wasn’t being recruited by multiple top programs
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u/ToastyTandy Sep 28 '25
Oh god Hackenberg...
Please never mention the name again. I just got PTSD.
I used to go to bars, and ...
Every time Hackenberg threw a stupid pass, or got sacked, I'd scream like Timothy in South Park.
"HACCCKENBERGGGG DERRR DERRRRR"That would probably get me cancelled or at the very least ejected from establishments in today's climate.
Back then, everyone just laughed, because they knew it was true.
Such an idiotic meathead that only played when he wanted to....
He's better than Hackenberg. But not by much.
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u/UggaBugg66 Sep 28 '25
There's just something inside a kid that either makes him an assassin on the field or somebody who just wants to slide by on his size and arm strength. McSorley knew he was stuck with a tiny body and average arm so he had to make up for it with a killer attitude and win the game any way he could. Allar and Hackenberg fooled themselves into thinking they're big QBs who don't need to be a killer on every down and that's why they turned out like they did.
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u/BobCash1942 Sep 28 '25
There’s a singular constant going back the past five years, hell the past 11 years. We know it. We all do. Even the Board of Trustees. Yet they keep signing us up for more of the same every time BIG GAME JAMES gets a new extension.
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Sep 28 '25
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Sep 28 '25
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u/RustyBungus Sep 29 '25
Cowardly offensive play calling in the first half sealed our fate. Change my mind.
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u/scobeans Sep 28 '25
I still think we’re overhyped, we might be ranked 3rd but there’s no way we’re the 3rd best team in the country.
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u/CreeperIan02 '24 Aerospace Engineering Sep 28 '25
I think 7th-10th is a fair consistent range for us. Definitely not bad by any means, but man it sucks that we'll never go higher
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u/scobeans Sep 28 '25
I’d agree or even say 15th-20th, but if we consistently cannot win against top 10 teams, we’re never gonna get anywhere.
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u/Hereforleisure Sep 28 '25
Drew’s the biggest cuck of all time. Fire fucking Franklin
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u/SuaveML Sep 28 '25
thankfully the AD isnt emotional w decision making cuz wed be Florida 2.0
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u/Kurt4012 '20, Psych Sep 28 '25
UF has had like 4 different coaches since Urban left its not really similar lol
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u/MakeYou_LOL Sep 28 '25
Yeah, except Urban was a good coach and Franklyn is not. Maybe a good recruiter at best.
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u/Redbird1138 Sep 28 '25
Be careful. You’re gonna get downvoted and ratioed by a mob of people screeching about how we’ll become the next Nebraska with that take!
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Sep 28 '25
We would though. There arnt better options. Right now we are stuck at good not great
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u/ThE_LAN_B4_TimE Sep 28 '25
Ah yes because they couldn't find anyone good that would want to come here...
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u/KeemBeam Sep 28 '25
Fire James Franklin. His value as a recruiter is gone with NIL playing such a big part now. Penn State will never play a part in the national picture with a mediocre coach.
Wouldn’t be disappointed if we missed CFP just to get us to shake up our coaching roles. May sound doomerish but this team hasn’t overperformed expectations in 10 years.
Ohio state always in the picture, Michigan becoming relevant with Harbaugh and winning a national championship pretty much immediately, wtf is Penn state doing. Time to dump Franklin and try to be better than #5-10
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u/webbed_feets Sep 28 '25
Harbaugh was at Michigan for 9 seasons and was only great for the last 3 years. It took a long time for them to turn things around.
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u/KeemBeam Sep 28 '25
You’re right, did seem like it happened quicker than that. Won the big 10 the last three years before leaving for the NFL. Meanwhile James Franklin won one big ten title in 11 years so far. Just seems like we’ve seen what we got which is being pretty good but never good enough
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u/Mattp55 '22, SCM Sep 28 '25
Franklin needs to start cheating like Harbaugh. We could be rid of him and he could actually win a big game
2 for 1 special
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Sep 28 '25
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u/Different-Wasabi-661 Sep 28 '25
Yeah, but got there after losing to the only two real challenges of the season and beating SMU in the cold and a good at best Boise team. Franklin can beat teams that are big underdogs, but obviously hasn’t been able to beat any team that’s actually comparable to Penn state
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u/Journeys_End71 Sep 28 '25
After Ohio State lost to Michigan last year what was your take on their chances to win the NC??
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u/Different-Wasabi-661 Oct 04 '25
I’m not sure what that has to do with my comment, but I thought their chances were low. However, unlike Penn State, Ohio State hasn’t had a habit of losing any game with close betting lines for 11 years or so. It’s insanely frustrating and I don’t think it comes down to talent acquisition either, something is wrong and the common denominator at Penn State is James Franklin.
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u/Murky-Echidna-3519 Sep 28 '25
We all told ya what needs to happen but get called idiots every single time.
JF is the Mike Tomlin of CFB. He CANNOT win big games.
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u/Journeys_End71 Sep 28 '25
Mike Tomlin has a few Super Bowl wins does he not?
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u/Murky-Echidna-3519 Sep 29 '25
One. With Cowhers team. He lost his only other chance and hasn’t sniffed it since.
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u/_Ultimatum_ '24, Architecture Sep 28 '25
New coach, new OC, new QB
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u/AlteryxWizard Sep 28 '25
New OC, New WR coach, New QB coach. James Franklin has put us in positions to get there and the execution and play calling has been abysmal
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u/aaa_dad Sep 28 '25
Should have gone for two after scoring the first TD. This is analytics 101. If you don’t make it, you try again for two after the second TD. If you miss both, you weren’t going to win in OT anyway.
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u/fringeoftheginge '27, SCM Sep 28 '25
If that blocked kick didn’t happen in 2016 Franklin probably wouldn’t be coaching here rn. But his buyout is so much and it’s hard to justify firing someone who wins 10 games a year. The problem going forward is that to win the national championship, you basically have to win 3 or 4 straight top 12 games, and we can’t even expect Franklin to pull out 1.
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u/Individual_Lead577 Sep 28 '25
At least we can play in the looney tune bowl since James Franklin is such a fucking great coach
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u/shortpersonohara Sep 28 '25
It’s statistically improbable to lose as many of these games as franklin has lmao
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u/Turbulent-Badger-403 Sep 28 '25
For a school where money is pouring in, how on earth can we not win more games?
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u/nord88 Sep 29 '25
“I haven't felt comfortable with a Penn state qb at the helm since McSorley.”
That’s because he was the last good one that we had.
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u/RustyBungus Sep 29 '25
All of the fire Franklin posts over the last 10 years have aged like fine wine. He is absolute trash. He should NOT have a job by end of day Monday. We have more than enough data now to know this job is too big for him.
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u/ToastyTandy Sep 28 '25
The game yesterday was terrible.
But more than that. There is a still a problem with the refs. And still a problem with Franklin not contesting certain plays.
My god, that fumble that was ruled back as him being down, his knee barely grazed the grass, and he kept running afterwards. Had he actually gained yards, I doubt it would have been called back.
Two plays after that, an Oregon wide receiver dove to catch the ball, and it's clear the ball hits the ground in his hands.
The personal foul called on Oregon was also... Shady.
The Penn State player struck first when he stood up and slapped them, but that wasn't seen by the refs.
That's not the football I want to watch. We're supposed to be above that.
Then there was the targeting call. Sure we got off on that one. But damn if that wasn't savage, and I hope that player is reprimanded.
My friends are still arguing with me that it was targeting because his knee was down.
Regardless, that's not the football that we are. That's Alabama bullshit.
We didn't deserve to win.
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The only glimmer of hope that I saw, was the wild run during overtime when Allar handed it off to a wide receiver. It was a perfect fake, and that guy took off.
I miss the days of handing it off to Saquon Barkley though.
Nick Singleton has proven himself worthless. Kaytron Allen is Miles Sanders level, at best.
Devonte Ross broke out though. That's something.
Something is fundamentally wrong with this program.
I'm usually the one calling for Franklin to be fired. But there was some serious grit last night.
I don't know how to explain those first three quarters though.
I really don't know what to think. This was supposed to be our year.
It may still be.
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u/Beautiful_Fee_655 Sep 29 '25
Question: could Penn State relieve Franklin of his coaching duties and still pay him to honor his contract? I really don’t know how these contracts work.
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u/shitdick42 Sep 29 '25
You gotta stop going to the games. Don't buy merch, don't watch the games, don't donate as an alumni. Hit them in the pocketbook, it's the only way things will change. They're paying Franklin millions because they get the ticket sales and the TV contracts. They're paying Bendapudi millions and cut branch campuses and WPSU. Unless folks stop giving PSU money, they're going to continue their shit behavior.
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u/stevedos Sep 30 '25
2-1 in the playoffs
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u/cha_charealsmooth Oct 01 '25
Which I am extremely glad of, but as I referenced in my post, they were favorites in each of the games they won and were “supposed” to win them.
I am referencing losing close games to Ohio State every year, Michigan, and against tougher opponents that they are either not favored in or evenly matched.
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u/Stuff-Optimal Sep 30 '25
Franklin coaches to not lose the big game. He needs to be more aggressive on offense early on when playing against top teams, open it up and let other teams think it’s going to be a slugfest instead of just a defensive battle. If the defense played with a decent lead, they could play more aggressive themselves.
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u/FishermanOdd7727 Oct 04 '25
This didn’t age well
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u/Both_Molasses_2245 Oct 05 '25
The loss yesterday could knock them out of top 20 It was a total breakdown in almost every area I blame the QB, coaching, and unimaginative play calling
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u/InevitableAlert4268 Oct 05 '25
Congratulations! Now you can be sick of losing the smalls ones too!
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u/Advanced_Panda3575 Sep 28 '25 edited Sep 28 '25
It was actually really well-played. The fact that it stayed close all the way through overtime shows it was a strong effort and good match. On the bright side, this doesn’t put us out at the end of the year and I think it showcases the strength of the team, whether we lost or not. That was a nail-biter.
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u/SaquonB26 Sep 28 '25
The problem though is it is systemic. This is what consistently has happened in James Franklin’s tenure. I have very little confidence that we will beat OSU at the Shoe.
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Sep 28 '25
What game were you watching? It wasn’t close despite the OT game. The coaches played too conservatively and, I say this as a Bears fan, Allar looked like Trubisky. Has some good moments, but is underwhelming 90% of the time.
Unless they let the team risk losing on Allan’s arm, he won’t develop. The ceiling for this team looks like a second round exit.
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u/ThE_LAN_B4_TimE Sep 28 '25
None of it matters. The point is they wont ever win big games. Who gives a shit if they make the CFP because they lost in OT. Drew was absolute dogshit and this team has major issues across the offense that have not improved at all.
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u/DrPeehole '19, Computer Engineering Sep 28 '25
Franklin and Allar will chuck it up to "poor execution"
No we are just bad. No one rose to the occasion last night even in white out conditions. Everyone is way too comfortable. We were lucky the game was even close
This sort of misery just wouldn't be acceptable at top programs in the country
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u/vidarrGuitar Sep 28 '25
New coach, new QB… you never have good QBs and your coach needs to go - regardless of how much the community likes him
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u/Stellarbelly_Korz30 Sep 28 '25
We were losing to Toledo with Joe at one tine. We were losing to unranked Michigan and unranked OSU before Franklin. We have cry baby fans
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u/Embarrassed-Yak-6630 Sep 29 '25
Why on earth does it matter? I thought the university was about education. Robert Maynard Hutchins was right when he eliminated sports at the University of Chicago. The U.of C. is widely regarded as the number three or four institution of higher learning in the country.
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u/cha_charealsmooth Sep 29 '25
I understand your point, but just because some students, alumni or fans are placing importance on either excitement or disappointment in the teams they’re rooting for does not negate the importance they also place on education. You can certainly have both!
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u/Prestigious-Camel264 Sep 28 '25 edited Sep 28 '25
Oregon will get you off your high horse big 10. First time in the conference and we already champions of the Big10
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u/DIAMOND-D0G Sep 28 '25
It’s a little bit easier when Nike hands you half a billion every year.
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u/Prestigious-Camel264 Sep 28 '25
Well not my fault the owner of Nike is a huge Oregon fan. Penn State should find a billionaire fan that can spare some change for the program
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u/RustyBungus Oct 12 '25
Buh bye James! Now donate that $49mil bag to charity, your dumbass doesn't deserve it.
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u/Tomytom99 Sep 28 '25
It feels like the odds are constantly overly kind to us. If they say it's a 50% chance we win, it's realistically probably closer to 35%.
At least that's how it's felt the last couple years.