The 2025 Penn State football team was loaded with talent. On paper, this team is one of the best in the country, but there are still issues. Their loss to the Oregon Ducks at home in the White Out highlighted those issues. They tried to return and brought the game into overtime, but it was not enough. Despite the loss, James Franklin warned that he does not want this loss to linger.
Head coach James Franklin addressed the anger and frustration within the Penn State fanbase after another tough loss to a good team. He said he completely understands it and where it comes from. However, this is a long season, and the last thing he wants to do is linger on this loss because in the past, those losses have quickly turned into two losses and so on.
Franklin elaborated more, saying, “But if you're not careful, that negativity can linger. We've had this issue where one loss turns into two because there's so much negativity that getting the team over it and moving on is hard.”
The narrative surrounding James Franklin has continued to be that he can't win big games. That also has lingered around him even though the Nittany Lions were a last-second interception away from playing for a national title last year.
James Franklin has been responsible for saving the Penn State football program after it was left for dead due to sanctions from Jerry Sandusky's awful crimes. Franklin was hired as the new head coach of the Nittany Lions in 2014 and has turned them into a football powerhouse, especially in the NIL era. However, the issue has been whether or not Penn State has been able to get over the hump and be a championship-level program, and under Franklin, that answer has been “No.”
The defining stat of the Franklin era is that he is 2-21 against the AP Top Six teams. Oregon was ranked sixth in “The White Out” and proved they were not intimidated in the environment.
The new College Football Playoff format still gives Penn State a lot of runway to get into the postseason, but after this loss, they have their backs against the wall. They also desperately need to fix the issues with this offense.
