What does Penn State do now? What can you do?

Last week’s overtime loss to Oregon was frustrating, but that was more of the same. A matchup with an elite team and Penn State falling just short. Tough, but close. Good, just not good enough.

But Saturday’s 42-37 loss to previously-winless UCLA? That was not the same. That was horrific. Embarrassing. A disaster. Something that makes you actually question the future of the coach and his program.

You can’t fire James Franklin. Not with a buyout believed to be around $50 million, though details on the specifics are sparse due to the state’s public records laws.

But unless Franklin accomplishes something in the next month that he hasn’t shown the ability to do yet, it might benefit everyone to consider the idea of amicably parting ways at season’s end.

Franklin would be sought after for other high-level jobs that are bound to open in what will be an eventful coaching carousel. He’s a good coach, and the cost for him to leave is just $2 million. The term “mutually part ways” is usually a lie. It wouldn’t have to be in this case.

Because what happened on Saturday was inexplicable.

The UCLA onside kick that caught PSU napping. The 20-point deficit. Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson likening UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava’s play to that of Vince Young. The first top-10 team to lose to a team 0-4 or worse in 40 years. Not just a winless Bruins team, but one that fired the head coach and both coordinators and lost 35-10 to New Mexico on this same field.

It’s as inexcusable a loss as we’ve seen in this sport in a long time. The preseason No. 2 team in the country is now more likely to miss the College Football Playoff than make it.

Penn State now has two losses, with No. 1 Ohio State and No. 8 Indiana still on the schedule. Franklin is 1-10 against Ohio State. A third loss might be the nail in the coffin of CFP hopes, because a loss like Saturday’s at the Rose Bowl is the kind that should keep a bubble team out.

This was supposed to be the Penn State team that was different. Quarterback Drew Allar, the talented running backs and others turned down the NFL. Franklin swiped defensive coordinator Jim Knowles from Ohio State, coming off a national championship. Sure, Abdul Carter and Tyler Warren left, but Penn State would follow in the footsteps of Michigan and Ohio State, riding veteran players to a national championship.

Instead, this looks just like last year’s team but missing its two best players.

Allar has simply not been good enough. He had just 200 passing yards against UCLA. Meanwhile, his former backup, Beau Pribula, has shined so far this season at Missouri. It’s possible that Franklin and Penn State, for the second time, have seen a talented backup leave and play better than someone who stayed in State College (remember Will Levis?). We need to see more from Pribula, but the fact that the question can be asked is an indictment of Allar’s play.

The defense that has otherwise been very strong this year allowed 435 yards and 10 of 16 third downs to be converted, from a UCLA team that hadn’t led for a single second all season and was 134th in scoring.

If this Penn State team can’t get it done, what Penn State team can? If this team misses the CFP, how do you sell hope and belief that you’re the guy to lead the program to the top? Penn State doesn’t have to worry about empty stadiums. It shouldn’t collapse to what it was in the early 2000s. But at what point do donors stop stepping up when the results are the same?

Reason I have always thought criticism of James Franklin was overwrought is because he NEVER loses THAT game.
Under Franklin, PSU had lost 6 games to teams that finished the season with .500 or WORSE records.
3 in 2014, his 1st year.
2 in pandemic season.
2021, against Illinois.

— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoATH) October 5, 2025

A year ago, Penn State was one half away from reaching the national championship. But like so often before, the Nittany Lions came up short against a top team. Franklin is 4-21 against top-10 teams and 1-18 against top-10 Big Ten teams. It simply has to be better.

Franklin hadn’t lost to an unranked team since the nine-overtime bonanza against Illinois in 2021. He beat the teams he was supposed to and lost to the ones he was supposed to. Good, just not good enough. That was frustrating but somewhat defensible.

Now, losing to a team that was a four-touchdown underdog. That we have never seen in Franklin’s tenure. That is the kind of loss that changes things.

The season’s not over. Maybe Penn State can pull what Ohio State did last year and turn a shocking upset defeat into motivation to run the table. But that likely requires winning in Columbus, something Franklin has never done.

When Franklin signed a gigantic 10-year guaranteed contract in 2021, it was surprising on both sides — that Penn State was that committed to him and that Franklin was willing to stay that long, in a profession where sides often grow tired of each other. If this season continues on its trajectory of landing well short of its goals, maybe both sides will come to realize they can do better.

(Photo: Luke Hales / Getty Images)