Penn State fan meltdown reaches critical level after loss to UCLA

There's no turning back from this
Penn State v UCLA
Penn State v UCLA | Luke Hales/GettyImages

It's going to be hard for the Penn State fanbase to forgive James Franklin for the 42-37 loss to previously winless UCLA on Saturday. Dealing with continuous losses to top 10 opponents has been hard enough, but if Franklin can't beat the bottom dwellers of the Big Ten, then what's the point?

Fans have had almost 24 hours to let their feelings be known about Franklin, Drew Allar and the current state of Nittany Lions football. More seem to agree that it's time for a change.

This was one of the nicer posts on X. Other fans were far less understanding and some even suggested he be fired immediately for losing in front of such a sad crowd at the Rose Bowl.

It's the money that matters

Not only does Franklin have a huge buyout — north of $50 million dollars, according to most reports, but there have been hundreds of millions invested in the program to give Franklin the resources he believed would bridge get Penn State to the top. Instead, it's gotten them a loss to UCLA and booted out of the top 25 for the first time since 2022.

On the outside looking in

With Penn State, which was the No. 2 team in the preseason rankings, completely out of the top 25, it looks like any chance to recover and make the 12-team playoff bracket is slim. It's just another disappointment for fans to endure.

Disappointing losses aren't a new thing for Penn State fans in the Franklin era. It can be said that his entire tenure has been defined by disappointment. But there's just so much one group can take and at this point it seems cruel to continue this path when we know where it will lead.

If AI Bob Ross has had enough, it's probably time to go. 

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