Penn State’s loss to Ohio State reinforces big-game narrative about James Franklin [opinion]

If James Franklin slept at all and woke up Sunday morning thinking he was in a time loop, it would be understandable.

Eight straight losses to Ohio State might seem like 80 to the Penn State football coach.

He might think he was Phil Connors and that Ryan Day was Ned Ryerson.

What does he have to do to stop having the same nightmare and feeling like it’s Groundhog Day every year?

“There’s nobody that’s looking in the mirror harder than I am,” Franklin said. “I will say this: 99% of the programs across college football would die to do what we’ve been able to do in our time here. But I also understand when you’re in a place like Penn State, there are really, really high expectations. I get it.”

The bottom line is that Franklin is 1-10 against the Buckeyes and 1-13 against top-five opponents. His record in those games is a stain on his 11-year tenure at Penn State that he could have begun to cleanse with a win Saturday.

The Lions’ 20-13 loss to Ohio State, their first of the season, reinforced the big-game narrative about Franklin. It enhanced the perception that the program is very good, but not elite.

It was a game that Penn State could have won. The Lions blew a double-digit lead against the Buckeyes, like they did in 2017 and ’18.

Franklin’s frustration was clear immediately after the game ended. He got into a verbal spat with a fan in the student section instead of ignoring him.

Only one Penn State coach has lost more consecutive games to the same opponent, and that was Joe Paterno’s nine straight losses to Michigan from 1997-2007.

The record crowd of 111,030 at Beaver Stadium and those fans watching on television will remember that Penn State twice had first downs at the 3-yard line and did not score.

Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun made a spectacular interception to spoil the first threat late in the first half, grabbing the football from wide receiver Harrison Wallace III before tumbling out of bounds.

Then in the fourth quarter, Tyler Warren single-handedly put the Lions in position to tie it. He outmuscled an Ohio State defensive back for the ball on a 31-yard catch and ran 33 yards to the 3 after taking a direct snap.

The next four snaps will be ones that will haunt Franklin, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and Penn State fans for years.

Three straight handoffs to Kaytron Allen into the middle of the line netted 2 yards. On fourth down from the 1, Drew Allar looked for Warren, who had two defenders on him, and then Khalil Dinkins, who also was covered. Incomplete.

It reminded longtime Penn State observers of the 1979 Sugar Bowl against Alabama when Matt Suhey and Mike Guman were stopped on third- and fourth-down runs up the middle from inside the 1 in a 14-7 loss for the national title.

The current Lions offense has relied on Kotelnicki’s innovative and creative calls all season. Those four were anything but. They were cautious, dull and timid.

It was the first time that the offense failed to score a touchdown since a 29-6 loss to Northwestern in 2014, Franklin’s first season.

On the flip side, the Penn State defense became only the third team since 2018 to hold Ohio State to 20 points or less. The Lions also did it last year in a 20-12 loss at Columbus.

That’s small consolation to a program that must look at beating the Buckeyes like climbing Mount Everest.

“This is my sixth time losing to them, and to be quite frank, I’m torn up over it,” defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas said. “It may not seem like it now, but it’s tough. I’m going to have to police myself and remind my teammates that there’s a lot of football left to be played.”

The Lions can still make the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff as long as they bounce back from Saturday. Who knows? They might play Ohio State again this season.

“The margin of error between great teams and elite teams is miniscule,” J-Thomas said.

Franklin understandably is under fire. Firing him wouldn’t be prudent, though, for a lot of reasons, starting with the fact that he’s won more than 70% of his games at Penn State.

If only he could end his Ohio State nightmare.

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