James Franklin still believes in himself, Penn State after upset loss to UCLA

Nobody expected Penn State and James Franklin to be in this situation coming into the season. This was a year, after all, when the Nittany Lions seemingly went all-in and were a common prediction to get over the hump and be serious contenders for a national championship. Instead, they’re 3-2 and coming off an awful upset loss to UCLA.

For Franklin, that loss exacerbated concerns that he’s not going to be able to get over the hump at Penn State. That’s something he would recently be asked about. However, Franklin affirmed that he still believes in himself, Penn State, and their ability to succeed in partnership with one another.

“Fair question,” James Franklin said. “I believe in Penn State, I believe in our players, I believe in the men and women in the Lasch Building, and I believe in myself. Obviously, after the last two games, we’re going to get these types of questions. I get it.”

There are certainly things to celebrate for James Franklin at Penn State. After inheriting a program in 2014 that was coming off sanctions and needed to be rebuilt, Franklin has made the Nittany Lions a consistently good program. He has a 104-44 record there, has five finishes ranked in the Top 10 of the AP Poll, and is coming off three-straight double-digit win seasons.

The problem is that Franklin has also struggled massively in big games. In particular, his record against AP Top-10 opponents is now just 4-21. Big games have become a boogeyman there, and the UCLA loss is exacerbating that issue.

“But, again, when you look at the complete picture,” Franklin said. “Which right now no one wants to talk about — we want to talk about what just happened and the games we just played. I get that, but I need to make sure that everybody within the Lasch Building keeps everything in perspective. We get this fixed, we move forward, and find a way to beat Northwestern. As you can imagine, we’re as motivated as we’ve ever been to do that.”

While James Franklin remains confident in himself and the program, others outside the Lasch Building don’t seem to have the same belief. In particular, Paul Finebaum recently shared that he thinks it might be time for a change.

“I think it’s really in peril,” Finebaum said. “And, I’m not suggesting he’s going to be fired – not with a $50 million buyout. But it just feels to me like his time is up. He can do no better than he’s done, and he has done remarkably well but not good enough for Penn State’s standard. So, when he gives yet another lame apology, excuse, however you want to characterize it? It doesn’t resonate with his fanbase, who has just witnessed one of the worst losses in Penn State history, or any other college football team’s history. It was that bad.”

Regardless of what the future might hold, the season still isn’t even half over for Penn State. That means there’s going to be opportunities for Penn State to continue to prove themselves moving forward. It also means that Franklin could still potentially take the Nittany Lions to the Playoff.