Nine months ago, head coach James Franklin was taking Penn State to impressive heights, leading the program to an appearance against Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl for the College Football Playoff semifinal. Including the loss to the Irish in the Orange Bowl, PSU has lost four of its last seven games.
More News: Penn State Fans Turn on James Franklin With Brutal Chant
Saturday’s 22-21 loss to Northwestern at Beaver Stadium felt dooming for Franklin and the Lions. PSU fell to 3-3, killing any slight opportunity the program had to return to the CFP after losses to Oregon and UCLA.
Things could get even uglier in University Park, Pennsylvania, as Franklin revealed quarterback Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury in the fourth quarter os Saturday’s defeat.
More News: Penn State Could Take Drastic Action Amid James Franklin’s Buyout Hitch
The status of Franklin’s future at Penn State has been questioned since the loss to a previously winless Bruins team in Week 6. The one thing going in Franklin’s favor to return is his impressive buyout, believed to be in the ballpark of $50 million.
Per college football insider Stewart Mandel of The Athletic, the buyout is no longer believed to be an impediment for PSU to fire Franklin. The program is expected to negotiate a reduced buyout with Franklin after the season.
“No need for the ‘will they or won’t they pay’ dance at this point,” Mandel wrote. “James Franklin is done. Penn State fans made that abundantly clear Saturday by arriving uncharacteristically late to the game and booing their heads off when the game ended.
“There’s no winning them back. Come end of season, the school and its 12th-year coach will negotiate some sort of reduced buyout (from $48 million). The only question now is how many more games will the nation’s preseason No. 2 team lose?”
Franklin was named the head coach of Penn State before the 2014 season. Since he took over, PSU is 104–45 and 64-36 in Big Ten play. Penn State has six more games remaining in the regular season.
PSU is trending toward potentially missing a bowl game, a stunning development after entering the season ranked No. 2.
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