On Saturday afternoon, the Penn State football program dropped to 3-6 on the 2025 season with a crushing home loss against the number two ranked Indiana Hooziers. Penn State rallied to take a late lead in this game against all odds, looking to give their fans a rare moment to be excited about amid what has otherwise been a disastrous season.
However, unfortunately, the team relinquished a late touchdown from Frank Mendoza to Omar Cooper Jr. in a miraculous play that ultimately gave the Hooziers the win.
After the game, Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith, who took over for James Franklin earlier in this season, got one hundred percent real on the team's mindset after the crushing loss.
“It's just very humbling,” Smith said, per ESPN. “I think back to Joe Paterno and him running on the field. I'm in the same position that he was, and I have to do better for our guys. We have to taste victory because they deserve it.”
A tough season for Penn State
At the beginning of the season, Penn State was designated the number two spot in the country that Indiana football currently occupies. For the first couple of weeks, the Nittany Lions played a couple of bottom feeder teams that did nothing to either confirm or deny the legitimacy of that spot.
However, since then, things have fallen off the rails for Penn State, beginning with a home loss against Oregon and continuing from there, with puzzling losses against teams like UCLA and Northwestern mixed in as well. Eventually, the team's hand was forced to fire Franklin and promote Smith to the interim role, and it remains to be seen whom the team will select as the long-term candidate to fill that position.
In any csae, Penn State will next take the field on Saturday on the road against Michigan State. That game is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 PM ET.
