Penn State football's season hasn't panned out as expected and the disappointments are only piling up one after another.
There isn't much optimism for the Nittany Lions (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten) after losing every conference matchup so far in 2025, starting with Oregon in Week 5 and most recently falling to Iowa ahead of their second bye week. After Week 9, things aren't looking bright for the blue and white. Next on the schedule is No. 1 Ohio State on the road followed by No. 2 Indiana at Beaver Stadium. It's a recipe for back-to-back losses, which will make it six consecutive defeats in 2025.
The Buckeyes and Hoosiers commanded this season, thanks to talented coaching in Ryan Day and Curt Cignetti, respectively. Meanwhile, interim head coach Terry Smith took over leading Penn State that faces more adversity and concerns than it does hope and promise after firing former head coach James Franklin.
While UCLA and Northwestern pulled off dramatic upsets over the Nittany Lions, the chance of them pulling a fast one on Ohio State and Indiana is almost none. Floating at the bottom of the Big Ten was not in the cards for Penn State, and it's hard to believe it can get any worse.
After what is likely to be a pair of dominant wins against the Nittany Lions, swinging momentum back in their favor will be extremely difficult. Even playing Nebraska, Michigan State, and Rutgers doesn't make the situation any better. After all, Penn State lost to a winless UCLA team in Week 6 and have not stopped the downward spiral.
Rebuilding midseason has yet to fall in the Nittany Lions' favor. They were tested loss-to-loss and adding another two to the mix will test them even further. They fell to the Hawkeyes in Week 8 even when they were the team that wanted it the most. Penn State's hitting its limit (if it hasn't already), and breaking through becomes less and less likely week-by-week.
It's not an unfamiliar position for the program. Former head coach Joe Paterno's unit dropped six straight Big Ten games in 2004, Penn State has been in this position before in program history. During the 2004 season, but finished strong with a pair of wins to break the streak.
The Nittany Lions aim to achieve the same Big Ten turnaround as Paterno's team in 2025, but with an third game to wrap it up.
The blue and white of 2025 differ in other ways, such as not being under the tutelage of a coach, like Paterno. Instead, it has a veteran associate coach and interim head coach in Smith leading the unit. His previous head coaching experience is limited to the high school level.
Smith is a talented, vocal, and desperate coach for this broken team, but he lacks big-time experience. Does he have what it takes to navigate midseason chaos and an unknown future of the Nittanu Lions? He rallied the locker room, but can he rally the wins? So far, he's 0-1.
There is a real possibility that Penn State finishes winless in the Big Ten. If it beat Iowa in Week 8, there would be a better chance of beating any or all of the last three opponents.
Michigan State and Rutgers both currently have four-game losing streaks in conference play, with results similar to the Nittany Lions', where their only victories are three non-conference wins. At the start of the season, these were shoe-in wins for Penn State. Now, they're tossups. The Nittany Lions lost to weaker teams and they have to play the Spartans and Scarlet Knights on the road.
Even though the Cornhuskers are coming off a bad loss and will play in Happy Valley in Week 13, Nebraska is no doubt coming in with its best game plan just as Northwestern did.
The disgruntled Cornhuskers will want to show Penn State that they can play and win for their head coach Matt Rhule. For Rhule, even though he denied interest in the open coaching position for the time being, it's a chance to demonstrate his talents at Beaver Stadium whether or not he changes his mind about the job.
The locker room can't have this mentality until it comes true, but acceptance outside of Beaver Stadium needs to happen. It's entirely possible that the Nittany Lions' only wins of the season are from their non-conference slate back when they were still favorites of being national champions. Going winless in the Big Ten will be an all-time blunder for what was supposed to be one of the best seasons in program history.