No. 7 Penn State football fell in yet another big game against No. 2 Oregon in the 2025 edition of White Out. The Nittany Lions struggled offensively for most of the game, but rallied behind the crowd to make a 17-3 comeback in the fourth quarter. Despite the late heroics, Penn State lost in double overtime.

Rigthfully so, Penn State fans of all generations took to social media to point the finger. With accusations thrown at anything from James Franklin to a Beaver Stadium curse, we decided to pick who we blamed.

Michael Zeno: Offensive Line

There are a few fingers to point in trying to dissect why Penn State lost in 2OT on Saturday. And while the coaching and QB play stand out as obvious scapegoats, my frustrations lie with the offensive line.

Returning four starters and both 1,000-yard backs from 2024 should’ve yielded a strong running game, especially after torching this Oregon team for nearly 300 yards and 8.7 YPC last December. Instead, we got only 139 rushing yards on 4 YPC in the White Out. 4 YPC isn’t necessarily that bad until you dig deeper. Nick Singleton went from 10 YPC in the Big Ten Championship to 2 YPC on Saturday. Through three quarters, Penn State had 59 rushing yards and couldn’t move the ball. While they proceeded to get 80 in the 4th and OT, that was mostly on Allar’s scrambles and jet sweeps.

The offense was completely different in the fourth, and it showed. Better pass protection for Allar allowed him to sling the ball and get chunk plays, especially in play action. Two of the longest runs of the day (19 for Allen, 16 for Pena) came in crunch time.

Frankly, there’s no reason why a unit this experienced and talented should struggle with getting their star RBs running room. Penn State’s offensive identity is winning in the trenches, and Oregon dominated the line of scrimmage all night.

Ben Rosenbaum: The Offense

The entire offense. It just seems that, recently, there’s been an “offensive disconnect.” We cycle through offensive coordinators. We brought in a five-star QB. We have two of the most dominant and explosive running backs in college football. We just brought in three new standout wide receivers, who we all thought were going to make an immediate, stronger, different impact than what we’ve seen in years prior.

We have an incredible lights-out defense that makes big-time plays. Then the sides switch, and the offense is stagnant. Boring. Quiet. Praise the defense; the offense has work to do. A lot.

Noah Flenard: James Franklin

The biggest person to blame for the White Out game loss is James Franklin, but not for the reason you might think.

From a coaching standpoint, he was alright. The offense being lackluster for 80% of the game falls more on the play-calling than anything, which is Andy Kotelnicki’s job. While this is under Franklin’s umbrella of responsibilities, he should be able to trust his coordinator.

The defense played well and held the potent offense of Oregon for most of the game.

Franklin is to blame for the quarterback play of Drew Allar. The development project of Allar has been disastrous and underwhelming. When you look at Drew from a physical standpoint, he checks the boxes of a 1st round NFL Draft pick. He’s tall, able to navigate the pocket, has a cannon of an arm, and isn’t afraid to scramble.

Drew Allar’s downfall begins when the mental aspect of playing quarterback comes to be discussed. He plays timidly and hesitates with his decisions. His hesitation is seen in his footwork and his habit of patting the ball. When he stands tall and confident and throws the ball with poise, he is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation.

Sadly, he rarely shows this, but as the 3rd year starter, this is unacceptable. His ability to get beyond his first read on a play is also poor. The throw into triple coverage to end the game in 2nd Overtime is the perfect example.

The wheel route from Luke Reynolds was one of, if not the first, read on the play. He must work on the ability to look off the defender and to make decisions with confidence. His inability to do this falls on none other than James Franklin.

Ella Wehmeyer: Offensive Line

Maybe it was a really good defense from Oregon, but from a viewer’s perspective, the offensive line felt off in this game. Throughout the game Drew Allar appeared rushed much of the game, completing just 56 percent of his passes and getting sacked twice. Several throws were off target when he was forced to evade Oregon’s defensive pressure. It wasn’t a disastrous performance up front, but the line looked like the area most in need of improvement.

Liv Pulak: James Franklin

While I’ve seen a lot of people saying Drew Allar is at fault for the recent loss, there is definitely more to the story. To be sitting here, cursing him out and exploiting him when he admits it was “his fault” is terrible. While I don’t think it is acceptable to put all the blame on Franklin, I do think we’ve seen a decrease in the quality of his coaching. I’m not going to go into an explanation, but look at the history. How many rivaled games have we won under him? Exactly.

Jack Anderson-Jussen: The Offense

In my opinion, the offense bears the most responsibility for Penn State’s loss to Oregon. That final turnover wasn’t just sloppy; it summed up the lack of focus and discipline we’ve seen all season. Our earlier wins came against weaker opponents, and even then, we scraped by despite careless mistakes. Oregon exposed that reality.

The offense wasn’t prepared for the jump in competition, and their inability to protect the ball proved costly. The big question now is whether they can tighten things up and show improvement heading into next week’s matchup with UCLA.

Peter Williams: The Crowd

I blame the crowd for Saturday’s loss. A simple look from above would show a sea of white, all in support of our Penn State Football team. However, that was not the case. Throughout the game, many chants rang out about firing certain individuals, or even worse. As our team was already at a low, I’m not sure why spectators of the game thought this would make the situation any better.

At the beginning of every game, we start by yelling “We Are!” followed by our alma mater, “All with thee, all with thee.” Clearly, fans did not take these sentiments to heart.

I believe it is important to come together around the exact thing that brought us to Beaver Stadium and support our team through its struggles. There is no “We Are!” when we isolate the blame on individuals and think the grass will be greener on the other side. Instead, rallying together in support of our team just maybe could have been what was needed for a successful comeback.

Fernando Martinez Ruiz De Esparza: James Franklin

If anyone deserves most of the blame for the Oregon loss, it’s James Franklin.

Listen, I understand that Drew Allar was the one who threw the game-ending interception into triple coverage, but let’s not forget how we got there. Penn State looked lifeless on offense for three quarters, as it only scored three points before turning it on when it had no choice, since it was down 17-3 in the fourth quarter.

There was no reason to wait that long into the game to adjust and be that aggressive, especially when you have one of the biggest home-field advantages in college football. When you are the home team, you must be the aggressor from the get-go, and yet this team has been struggling to do that this season. Franklin had two weeks to make these adjustments heading into this game, and yet that didn’t happen.

The defense was doing its job, especially in the first half, as it held Oregon’s high-powered offense to three points through almost three quarters, giving Penn State a lot of scoring opportunities. Yet, the offensive play-calling was so horrendous that the offense struggled to stay on the field, leading the defense to show signs of fatigue.

Even when Penn State was down 10-3, the offense went three-and-out before Oregon extended its lead to two touchdowns on its next possession. I understand that Andy Kotelnicki is the one calling the plays, but as head coach, you can adjust as the game goes on, and yet, Franklin never did it until the game was close to getting out of hand. The adjustments worked as the game went into overtime, but it makes you wonder: why didn’t the coaching staff make these adjustments when our defense was holding Oregon to three points?

Also, there’s a key moment in the game that isn’t talked about much. Penn State started with the ball in the second half and drove the ball to Oregon’s 36-yard line before Oregon forced a fourth down. That’s a 53-yard field goal for Ryan Barker, who had made a 49-yarder earlier in the game. Yet, Franklin decided to punt the ball instead of giving Barker a chance to kick a makeable field goal.

When you have a reliable kicker, you must give him the chance to kick the field goal, even if there’s a chance that he misses. Lastly, while it was Allar’s fault for throwing the interception in the second overtime, there was no reason to call a passing play on first down when the running game was working.

You had to stick with the formula that helped the Penn State offense score three consecutive touchdowns, and yet, the team got aggressive on first down instead of playing conservatively, and it cost them the game.

To make matters worse, Franklin refused to hold Allar accountable in his postgame press conference and took the blame as always whenever he loses the big games. Good coaches hold their players accountable when they make mistakes, and Franklin never does that. That’s how players learn from their mistakes, and yet it’s like Allar never learned from his interception mistakes that have cost Penn State its last three losses.

Now, after this loss, Franklin is 4-21 against AP top 10 teams and 16-37 against ranked opponents, including his time with Vanderbilt. Despite all the talent he has had since he became the Penn State head coach in 2014, he can never move Penn State from the status of good to elite. I understand the Nittany Lions made the College Football Playoff semifinals last season, but they had an easy path to get there, beating SMU and Boise State.

If Franklin can’t win the big games, then Penn State will never reach the elite status. For that reason, a coaching change might be needed if this team can’t build on its semifinal appearance last year.

Oscar Orellana: Andy Kotelnicki

While Drew Allar definitely has his faults, offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s play calls and schemes have too many moving pieces for Allar to be successful.

Penn State calls so many jet sweeps and run-pass options when Allar glows predominantly as a pure pocket passer. It’s readily apparent in how easy his throws were in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game. Why not start with some deep play-action looks and focus on running the ball effectively instead of being too cute with Trebor Peña out of the backfield?

Devonte Ross has easily established himself as a deep threat to be on the receiving end of these deep shots, and he and Allar have already connected twice for long touchdowns this season. Kotelnicki needs to take a step back, reevaluate Allar’s tendencies and strengths, and get this offense chugging along. There’s no excuse for this offense. It should be better than it is. A lot better. And that falls on his shoulders.