Upsets are often considered the lifeblood of sports. They certainly breathe life into college football. There's nothing like an up-and-coming home team that has shown improvement throughout the season edging out a top 10 team when it comes calling. However, Penn State's 42-37 loss to a brutal UCLA team that hadn't come close to a victory in any of it's four previous games is inexcusable.
The Nittany Lions had to fly all the way from Western Pennsylvania to Los Angeles to take on the Bruins. The game came one week after Penn State had suffered a narrow loss to Oregon at Beaver Stadium before a sellout crowd that had given the team its full-throated support. There was nothing shameful about Penn State's performance in that game, but head coach James Franklin did nothing to get back on track against the troubled Bruins.
UCLA dictated the pace of the game throughout. They scored on their opening possession, going 80 yards in 10 playa and taking the lead when Nico Iamaleava hit wideout Kwazi Gilmer with an 11-yard TD pass. The Bruins then hit the Nittany Lions with a successful onside kick, a play that almost never works but UCLA made a clear recovery. UCLA added a field goal to make it a 10-0 lead.
While it was a shock that UCLA jumped out in front, the thought that Nittany Lions couldn't turn the game around was not even in consideration. Penn State had started the season as the No. 2 team in the country and the top-ranked team in the Big Ten. Drew Allar is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. The idea that head coach James Franklin couldn't wake up his players and deliver a reversal of fortune was not even in consideration.
No 0-4 team had beaten a top-10 team in 40 years. Texas-El Paso had beaten Brigham Young under those circumstance in 1985. It hadn't happened since that long-ago season.
Franklin saw his team make multiple mistakes
Franklin was unable to focus his team at the Rose Bowl. Suddenly, the lifeless UCLA team smelled victory for the first time this year and the Bruins had something that Penn State left in State College — fight.
The Penn State coach observed what he saw from the sidelines.
“Obviously, we did not handle last week's loss well,” Franklin said. “We also lost some players in that game during the week and then everything else, travel, everything else. We did not come out with the right energy to start the game.
“… That's my responsibility, and I didn't get it done.”
Franklin may have tried to take responsibility for losing the game as a 24.5-point favorite, but it rings hollow. There is no reason that the loss to Oregon should have turned his team into football misfits. In the current college football environment, one close loss does not eliminate an excellent team from title contention. Ohio State suffered two of those defeats in the regular season a year ago — to Oregon and Michigan — yet the Buckeyes still ended up winning the national championship.
If Penn State had avoided it's loss to UCLA, the Nittany Lions would still have a chance at winning the national championship. There may be some Penn State and Franklin apologists who will try to make a case for Penn State becoming a playoff team in the weeks ahead, but the enormity of their embarrassing loss to the Bruins should make that impossible.
The Nittany Lions do not deserve that opportunity no matter how they turn it around from this point forward. The guess here is that Penn State will suffer at least two more losses the rest of the way. They will lose to Ohio State once again and then suffer a defeat to Indiana the following week.
Penn State must say good bye to Franklin
Good coaches know how to rebound from painful defeats. More than accepting a loss and moving on, great coaches build on the finer points from the defeat and use them as inspiration.
That's what should have happened after the 30-24 defeat to Oregon. Instead of getting over that loss in a day or two and preparing for the winless Bruins, the Nittany Lions decided to feel sorry for themselves.
How could Franklin not have recognized this? Instead of bouncing back and showing pride, Penn State wallowed in that defeat and fell apart against UCLA.
This is a relationship that is no longer productive. Franklin could not right the ship after a close loss to an excellent team. Penn State would be making a huge mistake if they allowed Franklin to remain in place the rest of this season. He has demonstrated that he is not the right leader for this team and he should be sent packing immediately.
