James Franklin walked off the field at Beaver Stadium to a chorus of boos on Saturday afternoon.

After going up 10-0 early in the first quarter with a field goal and a pick-six, Penn State football collapsed. The Nittany Lions allowed 17 unanswered points before finally connecting on a Ryan Barker field goal late in the third quarter, which turned out to be their final points of the game.

As the Nittany Lions fell 20-13 against the No. 4-ranked Buckeyes, the largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history was left disappointed yet again.

Saturday’s tilt marked the eighth consecutive year Franklin failed to beat the Buckeyes, with his last victory coming in 2016. Like other home losses, “fire Franklin” chants rang through the stands.

Despite facing the ire of the Penn State fanbase, Franklin knows where it’s coming from. He can’t ignore his own record, and neither can fans.

“I understand their frustration,” Franklin said postgame. “Guys in the locker room are just as frustrated, if not more.”

After the loss, Franklin boasts a 1-13 record against AP top-five opponents during his time in Happy Valley. While there were deficiencies on the field on Saturday, Franklin also said he has to commit to getting better, just like his players.

“There’s nobody that’s looking in the mirror harder than I am,” Franklin said. “I also understand that, when you’re in a place like Penn State, there are really high expectations.”

Before, it was losses like Saturday’s that kept Penn State from reaching goals set by itself and the fanbase. In the new era of college football, though, that might not be true.

With Penn State’s loss, Indiana and Oregon remain the only undefeated teams in the Big Ten. While it would take a few upsets for the Nittany Lions to make the Big Ten Championship, their College Football Playoff hopes are still alive.

“The reality of college football is everything is still ahead of us,” Franklin said. “We have to do a great job of making the corrections and eliminating the things that were unforced errors that happened today.”

Franklin understands that taking the meaning out of the loss isn’t helpful, either. The atmosphere created by all 111,030 fans in Beaver Stadium Saturday was one built from enthusiasm, and the jeers after the game are just a byproduct of support.

Correcting mistakes was a big part of Franklin’s message during his postgame conference, as he is always wary of letting one loss turn into two.

“I’m making sure we come in tomorrow and make the corrections,” Franklin said. “But, on Sunday night, we’ve got to flush it and get ready for Washington.”

During his opening statement, Franklin was noncommittal. According to him, his team did some things good enough to win, but it also did some things that weren’t good enough.

Last year, it took until his Tuesday press conference for Franklin to admit to his role in last year’s loss to Ohio State. This year, Franklin was quick to say the loss was on him.

Behind two failed red-zone drives and a defense that flashed early but fell apart late, Franklin lost again. Even though it doesn’t put the Nittany Lions out of playoff contention, the Beaver Stadium faithful weren’t happy.

They’ll have a long time to think about it too, as the Buckeyes don’t return to State College until 2028.

“We get an unbelievable crowd here, we get unbelievable support, and you don’t do that without passion. There are great things that come from that, and there are hard things that come from that,” Franklin said. “That’s part of the job, and I own it all.”