James Franklin’s Penn State Nittany Lions are 3-1 after their recent loss against the Oregon Ducks. It was the first conference game for Penn State after dominating the non-conference schedule and a bye week. Franklin’s Lions entered the Beaver Stadium with a whiteout advantage. However, it is not an easy task against the explosive Oregon Ducks. It was indeed a close match that went up to two overtimes. However, the result didn’t favor the Nittany Lions.
After Oregon’s dominant three-quarter lead, Penn State dug out of the 17-3 deficit at the end of the fourth quarter, equaling the score 17-17. In the first overtime, Penn State’s Kaytron Allen rushed a 4-yard TD, only for Oregon’s Jamari Johnson to score an equalizer, 24-24. In the second 2nd overtime, Gary Bryant converted a 25-yard pass from Dante Moore to a TD, to win the game by 24-30. With this, James Franklin sets a college football coaching record, only behind Shane Beamer’s dad, Frank Beamer.
Shehan Jeyarajah of CBS Sports reported on X that Penn State’s loss against Oregon is its 15th consecutive loss against AP Top 6 opponents under James Franklin. With this, he holds the second-worst coaching record in big games with 2 wins and 21 losses, coaching a minimum of 20 games. What’s worse is that Shane Beamer’s dad, and legendary coach of Virginia Tech, Frank Beamer, still sits at the top with 2 wins and 24 losses. Despite these losses, Frank held the most wins as a coach at that time, with a record of 280-144-4.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
The last time Franklin’s Penn State defeated a top 6 team was back in October 2016, when No.7 Penn State hosted No.6 Ohio State and defeated them by 24-21. It was the third season for Franklin, where the Lions rallied from 2-2 to a straight eight wins, winning the Big Ten’s East Division. Since then, Penn State has never won a game against a top-6-ranked team. When we look at the top-10-opponents, Franklin’s Nittany Lions are 1 for 6. Their only win came against the No.8 Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal last year.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Coaches behind Franklin are Alex Agase with 2-20, George Welsh with 2- 20, and Rich Brooks with 2-18-1. What’s interesting is that Franklin is the only active coach in the list. This gives the Penn State coach a chance to either rule him out of the worst big game rankings with a win, or top the list by losing the next three matches against the top-6-ranked teams.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
James Franklin Addresses His Worst Big Games Record
After the loss against Oregon this Saturday, James Franklin addressed his team’s performance against the top 6-ranked teams and his coaching record. Franklin took responsibility for the losses and gave hope to fix things and win those games for the kids in their locker room.
“I kind of look at the greater picture and get that narrative. It’s not really a narrative; it’s a fact. I get it,” Franklin said. “I kind of look at the greater picture and what we have been able to do here. But at the end of the day, we have to find a way to win those games… I take ownership and take responsibility. At the end of the day, I wanted that for those kids in that locker room.”
The Nittany Lions’ next shot against a top-6-ranked team is on November 1, against the No. 1-ranked Ohio State. Before that, Penn State is set to face UCLA, Northwestern, and Iowa in the next three weeks. After which, they will have a bye week before they try to turn things around.