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James Franklin (and Andy Kotelnicki) Walking Back to Happy Valley After Losing to 0-4 UCLA on the Worst Play Ever
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Penn State usually responds well after a loss. They crushed Washington and SMU after their losses to Ohio State and Oregon last season.
So you figured they’d get the job done as a -24.5 road favorite against an 0-4 UCLA Bruins squad that was smoked at home by Utah and New Mexico. Instead, they lost 42-37 after this happened:
Drew Allar completely annihilated in the backfield. Last week it was a horrific interception. Do the Lions ever lose in normal fashion, or is it always total ridiculousness?
What’s wild is that after this play, the PSU defense held, using all three timeouts. Then UCLA ran around in the end zone to burn clock, took a safety, and gave the ball back to the Nitters. Allar proceeded to pick up a few yards on a short toss, then threw a deep pass out of bounds. They couldn’t get close enough for a Hail Mary attempt, so they had to settle for a failed hook and ladder desperation pitch fest that went nowhere.
So the Lions are 3-2 after losing back-to-back games. They were -2500 to -3000 on the moneyline. They have Northwestern at home next, then Iowa and Ohio State on the road. They also have to play Indiana at Beaver, which doesn’t look like a slam dunk.
This might be it for James Franklin, but we’ve said that before.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com