Penn State fell to Ohio State on Saturday afternoon in State College. The Nittany Lions’ difficult loss to the Buckeyes rang a familiar tune in their ears. Head coach James Franklin, once again, fell short in a big game. And once again, fans and otherwise let him hear about it.
The loss dropped Franklin to 1-10 all-time against Ohio State. Franklin took the job on in 2014, replacing Bill O’Brien. Since then, though, Franklin has failed to defeat the standard of the conference.
Franklin is also now 1-13 against AP Top 5 teams following their 20-13 loss to Ohio State, as Cole Cubelic of ESPN noted.
Penn State under James Franklin:
1-10 against Ohio State
1-13 against AP Top-5 teams— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) November 2, 2024
Fans, writers, and personalities poured it on as Franklin and Penn State couldn’t celebrate again in another big game situation.
It’s unbelievable how long Penn State has allowed James Franklin to do this. Have some self respect
— Patrick Mayhorn (@patrick_mayhorn) November 2, 2024
Society if James Franklin could ever beat Ohio State or win any big game pic.twitter.com/JXRmQX6KYC
— cotton weary fan account (@EvanRomano) November 2, 2024
James Franklin’s Nittany Lions vs. Ohio State: pic.twitter.com/AQd8AHlXHk
— Rohan Kamat (@rohan_k101) November 2, 2024
That goal line stretch was James Franklin’s coaching career at Penn State in a microcosm. He’ll get you 95% of the way there and fail miserably when needed the most.
— Matt Maisel (@Matt_Maisel) November 2, 2024
The criticism sharpened and continued on throughout the afternoon.
Tough day for the guy who got his phone smashed, had to watch James Franklin blow another big game, and can’t even complain about it on Twitter.
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) November 2, 2024
Listen, Ryan Day is a fraud, but … he’s not a James Franklin level fraud
— Patrick Daugherty (@RotoPat) November 2, 2024
James Franklin was gifted a 10-point lead at home almost immediately and still couldn’t do it lmao
— Wyatt (@hooplawyatt) November 2, 2024
James Franklin makes Ryan Day look like a serious football coach and that’s the most insulting thing I can say about a coach.
— Colb (@___Colb___) November 2, 2024
Franklin and Penn State won’t escape this criticism until they win the big games. At a point, the criticism not only becomes fair but becomes a fact of life. The Nittany Lions cannot beat Ohio State under James Franklin, and until they do, they’re stuck where they are in the Big Ten. Which appears to be in a place of good, but not nearly good enough.
