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Penn State fans wave goodbye, flip off James Franklin amid chants to fire coach

Danby: Daniel Hager10/11/25DanielHagerOn3
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© Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State‘s season from hell continued Saturday afternoon as it dropped its third consecutive game after opening the season 3-0.

The Nittany Lions fell to previously 2-2 Northwestern 22-21 just one week removed from losing to previously 0-4 UCLA 42-37 in Los Angeles. Things are not happy in Happy Valley.

Just three weeks ago, Penn State was ranked No. 3 in the country. Now, they’re on the verge of missing a bowl game. Following the loss to the Wildcats, a massive ‘Fire Franklin’ chant broke out inside Beaver Stadium.

Heading into the game, Franklin discussed how he would be dealing with potential animosity from the home crowd. Well, he certainly got it.

“We try to control the things that we can control,” Franklin said. “We’ve had this in the past. I obviously don’t want it, nobody wants it. We want the players to have a great experience and the coaches to have a great experience. I want the fans to feel good and be excited and I know that we impact their mood for the week and the year.”

“So I get it, I do. Do I like it? Am I happy about it? No. I get it. This is a place that has high expectations and high standards. Again, it’s outside of our control and we try and pour all of our energy on the things we can control.”

The Penn State head coach’s seat was already warm after his team dropped yet another marquee home game to Oregon and suffered the disappointing loss to UCLA last weekend. That seat is absolutely scalding now for Franklin, who is in the midst of his 12th season at Penn State.

“I think (Franklin’s tenure at Penn State) is really in peril,” ESPN‘s Paul Finebaum said on Tuesday morning’s edition of ‘Get Up‘. “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.”