When Penn State, the preseason No. 2 team in the country, lost its first game of the season to Oregon in double overtime, the Nittany Lions still appeared to be national title contenders. Then, when James Franklin led his team to UCLA and laid an egg at the Rose Bowl, it seemed that a good team had played a bad game.
Now, after James Franklin lost to Northwestern 22-21 in what proved to be his final game as the head coach in Happy Valley, Penn State is just the biggest disaster of the 2025 season. Maybe Penn State quit on the season, or maybe the roster may not have been as good as we all expected.