Penn State is going through it right now, as things have gone from bad to worse for James Franklin’s team over the last three weeks. National championship aspirations often aren’t destroyed this early in the season, but it’s looking bleak for a three-loss Nittany Lions team that was a preseason favorite to win it all.
After easily winning their season-opening cupcake games, the Nittany Lions are now 3-3 and on a three-game losing streak, falling to Oregon, UCLA and, most recently, Northwestern. At home in Happy Valley on Saturday, Penn State had a slim lead for much of the game, but the Wildcats posted a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter and held on for a 22-21 victory.
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With the upset, Northwestern just put a huge dagger in the Nittany Lions’ season.
The double-overtime loss to the Ducks was hardly going to ruin Penn State’s season, but losing to a previously winless Bruins team that fired its coach before the end of September and a previously two-win Wildcats squad — one of the wins was against UCLA — is bad for so many reasons.
The Nittany Lions have been staples near the top of the Big Ten standings but haven’t won since 2016. And while they’re often playoff and national championship contenders, Franklin infamously — and rightfully — has a reputation for not being able to win big games.
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Turns out, his 2025 squad is struggling against mediocre-at-best teams.
And this Penn State team was expected to be among Franklin’s best, if not THE best, with veteran quarterback Drew Allar leading the offense and a defense that was supposed to be elite. On paper, the Nittany Lions’ roster is stacked. (Allar suffered a season-ending injury against Northwestern, Franklin said after the game.)
Now, not only does Penn State have three losses, but it remains winless in the Big Ten and in the bottom half of the conference standings. That’s a tremendous amount of ground to attempt to make up in the next few weeks — maybe even an insurmountable amount — and an 0-3 conference start almost ensures the Nittany Lions won’t be returning to the conference championship game.
Nationally, a three-loss team making the 12-team College Football Playoff isn’t unprecedented, but last season when Clemson made it with three losses, the Tigers were ACC champions and guaranteed a playoff spot.
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With time to improve still, nothing is for sure, of course, and especially not in college football. But Penn State is in a pretty dismal spot right now.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Northwestern put a huge dagger in Penn State’s season
