.jpg)
4 hours ago
3
Penn State Nittany Lions football coach James Franklin needs a win against the Northwestern Wildcats today, for many obvious reasons. USA Today’s Matt Hayes has a very good one: it may be the last winnable game if PSU doesn’t course-correct immediately.
As Hayes notes, matchups against the Iowa Hawkeyes, Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan State Spartans, and Rutgers Scarlet Knights on the road, and Indiana Hoosiers and Nebraska Cornhuskers at home, are all losable.
Hayes also made a comparison that Penn State fans may want to look away from. The USA Today writer evoked Mike Norvell’s 2024 Florida State Seminoles, a program that went 2-10 and only beat the Cal Golden Bears and Charleston Southern Buccaneers, as a potential bellwether for this year’s Nittany Lions.
“We all need to prepare ourselves for the reality that Penn State might be this year's Florida State. If the Lions don't quickly dispatch a woeful Northwestern team, there are real problems ahead with a second half of the schedule where every game is losable,” Hayes wrote.
With two losses, Penn State isn’t officially out of the College Football Playoff race. Three losses might not even disqualify the Nittany Lions or Texas Longhorns from making the 12-team field, depending on how many two and three-loss teams there are in the SEC and Big Ten.
More people are thinking about Franklin being fired than about a miraculous comeback from Penn State at this point, though.
Certainly, Northwestern is a manageable opponent. Especially at home. Losing this one may get the ball rolling on Franklin’s dismissal. PSU AD Dr. Patrick Kraft’s tenure will be defined by hiring Franklin’s replacement, if it gets to that.
Winning in Week 7 doesn’t make the schedule more manageable after that, though. Franklin’s legacy is on the line this next month and a half.
English (US)