The pressure is mounting on Penn State, and head coach James Franklin’s program is not handling it well. The Nittany Lions entered the season ranked No. 2, but slipped out of the rankings after two consecutive losses to Oregon and UCLA.
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Franklin’s future with Penn State was questioned after the loss to the previously winless Bruins in Week 6. Franklin tried to focus on taking care of business against Northwestern, but PSU folded in the second half on Saturday in a 22-21 loss to the Wildcats in front of an angsty crowd of 108,121 at Beaver Stadium.
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Following the game, Franklin was asked by the media if the reason PSU made so many mistakes on Saturday was that his players were distracted by publicity surrounding the head coach. Franklin agreed that the negative noise played a role against Northwestern.
“Yeah, we have worked really hard to keep the building as positive as we possibly can and close out all that noise,” Franklin said via PSU’s website. “But for me to say that it doesn’t impact them, would not be honest.”
Franklin understands the fans are frustrated, but he wants to focus on getting his players back to work to turn the season around.
“The fans are frustrated, and I totally get it,” Franklin said. “We have great fans here. We get unbelievable support. I understand their frustration. Trust me. We’re as frustrated as anybody, the guys in the locker room. But to me, ultimately, it’s about the guys.
“It’s about the guys in the locker room, and they’re hurting in there, and I’d do anything I could to take that hurt away from them. But like I told them, we got to stick together. We got to tune out all the noise, and we got to get to work.”
Penn State is 3-3 and 0-3 in the Big Ten following the loss to Northwestern. The Nittany Lions will travel to play Iowa in Week 8 before going on the road to play No. 1 Ohio State in Columbus on Nov. 1.
After losing three games in a row, the outside noise is only expected to get louder.
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