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Penn State's James Franklin makes unfortunate history against Northwestern

Joe Cox|
Penn State's James Franklin made the kind of history that no coach wants to own in Week 7.
Penn State's James Franklin made the kind of history that no coach wants to own in Week 7. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

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Penn State Nittany Lions

James Franklin has had a successful career and has owned many accomplishments and even firsts. But his Week 7 first is one that literally no coach would like to own. After a second-consecutive near-historic upset loss for Franklin's Penn State Nittany Lions, he owns a new and very unenviable record.

Franklin's historical mark

Franklin actually claimed a pair of marks, with his fourth loss as a 20+ point favorite since he took over at Penn State. But more astonishing is being the first coach in 30 years to claim back-to-back losses as a 20+ point favorite.

The ugly losses

Obviously, the losses over the last two weeks against Northwestern and UCLA are two of Franklin's epic losses. Franklin and Penn State also lost in 2021 as a 24 point favorite at home against Illinois in a 20-18 nine-overtime epic. The other brutal loss came in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season when Penn State hosted Maryland as a 27 point favorite and fell 35-19. In each of those season, Penn State began the season ranked in the top 20 in the AP poll (8th in 2020 and 19th in 2021) only to fall out of the poll entirely during a 4-5 or a 7-6 campaign.

Penn State opened the current season No. 2, trailing only Texas. The Nittany Lions sat at No. 3 after a 3-0 start, but have now dropped three consecutive games: first, to then-No. 6 Oregon 30-24 in double overtime, followed by a shocking 42-37 loss at UCLA and this week's 22-21 home defeat to Northwestern. The historical issue in the last two upsets was the massive extent of Penn State's advantage: PSU opened as a -25.5 favorite over UCLA and then a -21.5 favorite over Northwestern.

More bad news (and some good news) for Franklin's future

If the bad news for Franklin wasn't bad enough, he indicated that QB Drew Allar is now out with a season-ending injury. That said, as previously reported, Franklin's $85 million, 10-year contract runs through 2031, with a current buyout of about $56 million. With that kind of bottom line, Penn State fans might not be happy with Franklin. But about the only way they won't see him is if the departure from Happy Valley is Franklin's own idea.

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Joe Cox
JOE COX

Joe is a journalist and writer who covers college and professional sports. He has written or co-written over a dozen sports books, including several regional best sellers. His last book, A Fine Team Man, is about Jackie Robinson and the lives he changed. Joe has been a guest on MLB Network, the Paul Finebaum show and numerous other television and radio shows. He has been inside MLB dugouts, covered bowl games and conference tournaments with Saturday Down South and still loves telling the stories of sports past and present.

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