Is it over for Penn State? Fans seems to think so

Saturday during the day before No. 7 Penn State took the field for its White Out against No. 2 Oregon, "We are" chants filled Happy Valley. After the conclusion of the games, boos and calls for head coach James Franklin's jobs replaced the school spirit.

"It's the same s**t every year," social media influencer Joe Perri posted on Facebook. "James Franklin got out coached again — 0 and 16 you are now since 2015 when we play a top-ranked team. You get out coached every single time . . . James Franklin, see you later."

Fans are rightfully upset with the outcome of the game. The Nittany Lion (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) offense climbed out of a 14-point deficit to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter and forced the Ducks (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) into overtime. Dani Dennis-Sutton showed up in double overtime, intercepting Oregon quarterback Dante Moore on the two-point conversion attempt.

Everything was falling into place for Penn State to pull out the win and make a statement, pushing any negativity from the first three quarters out of fans' minds for the time being. Then, quarterback Drew Allar did was he does best: get picked off in critical moments.

The Ducks saw it coming, Allar couldn't have been more obvious about who his intended target was. On top of that, Allar consistently threw behind his pass catchers throughout the game that made it difficult for the Nittany Lions to compete. He wasn't confident in himself for over half the game and the rest of the offense fed off that energy. The defense held off as much as possible to keep the game close. Despite Penn State having the ability to come back, the game was not nearly as close as the score indicated performance-wise.

While Allar's performance wasn't excusable whatsoever, the blame isn't only on him. Coming into Saturday, it was clear that Oregon head coach Dan Lanning prepared the Ducks and prepared them well. They were ready to enter a stadium that was brutally against them, ready to overcome the noise, and ready to get comfortable on the road. The hostile 12th man is just one piece of the puzzle they overcame, the rest was making better decisions than Allar and Franklin, which isn't too hard of a thing to do.

Penn State had a promising start to the season. While it was against Nevada, it gave fans hope as to what their team could accomplish moving forward. The next two games, the offense was sluggish and the defense pulled out the impressive performances. In hopes of those two games being flukes because the Nittany Lions didn't want to expose all of their tricks, the anticipation for Week 5 built. Penn State fell well short of expectations. Franklin still isn't ready to take on the big games and neither is Allar. If Allar had a coach that wins the crucial games, the quarterback's narrative might be different. In Happy Valley, though, that combination is destined to fall short.