Penn State football had national championship aspirations heading into the 2025 season, but it’s safe to say the Nittany Lions did not live up to the hype.

Through five games in the season, Penn State is 3-2 with back-to-back Big Ten losses to No. 2 Oregon and UCLA. The loss in the Rose Bowl on Saturday was the first time a Top-10 team lost to a 0-4 side since 1985, per Hayes Fawcett.

One of the reasons for the hype during the preseason was the amount of returning production. Penn State had 14 returning starters, including virtually the entire offense, from a team that made the College Football Playoff semifinals the season before.

Well, 2025 has proven that returning starters don’t mean anything if those returning starters don’t perform. Another example of this is Clemson. The preseason No. 4-ranked team is 2-3 so far this season.

“No one cares about preseason rankings,” James Franklin said before the season. “Like, I’m not going to frame the preseason rankings and put it in my basement in the man cave. No one cares. No one cares.”

While the preseason rankings don’t matter, the belief in the building does. Franklin was persistent in stating he has the best talent and coaches in the country before the season began, a statement that has been questioned after back-to-back losses.

“We didn’t win the last two games,” Franklin said after the loss to UCLA. “But, yeah, obviously I felt that way, or I wouldn’t have said it, but after two losses, it’s hard for me to answer that question and say that that’s the case.”

How could you still believe that you have the best players when facing the first time Penn State will hit October 10 without a win against a Power Four opponent since 2010?

Another aspect of a winning football team, though, is the coaches. Penn State did not back down when it came to coach hirings this offseason. The Nittany Lions brought in reigning national champion Jim Knowles from Ohio State, making him the highest-paid college coordinator of all time.

The Pennsylvania native was supposed to bring the defense to the championship level, especially because of the talent he inherited. The question was always whether Knowles could install his culture and playing style fast enough for the season.

The former Oklahoma State defensive coordinator had two things going for him. First, the Nittany Lions are used to change; this defense has seen three different defensive coordinators over the last three years. The second, Penn State had three “give me games” to start the season to get everyone settled in.

“It’s never a finished process, and how quickly we can move forward with it this year depends on how quickly the players keep learning,” Knowles said about the install at Penn State’s media day. “Right now, it’s at a really rapid pace. [We’ll] just keep pushing forward as long as they’re handling everything.”

Well, after the loss of Tony Rojas in practice the week after Oregon, the depth of the install had been tested, and it failed.

UCLA averaged just 14.25 points per game before facing off against Penn State. The Bruins had struggled in all facets of the game with the ball, rarely scoring and with just one rushing touchdown through four games.

Against Penn State, UCLA scored 42 points, scored three times on the ground, and had a combined 280 rushing yards.

“I have a ton of confidence in those men [the coaches], or I would not have brought them into the building,” Franklin said. “We’re a results-oriented business, and we need to produce, so my job is to hold everybody accountable and create an environment where the players and the coaches can be successful. That’s what we’re going to do moving forward, starting with Northwestern. ”

While he did not mention exactly what holding the coaches accountable looks like, he appears Franklin plans to expect more out of his coordinators.

After all, it’s just Knowles who has found struggles at points in the 2025 season. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki also hasn’t performed to expectations in his second year with the Nittany Lions.

Penn State has started every game slowly, scoring just 68 of the team’s 198 total points in the first half. That is 35.2%, and if you take out the Nevada game, the Nittany Lions have scored 27.9% of their total points before halftime.

The offense ranks No. 59 in total offensive yards behind teams like Clemson, UNLV, and North Texas. There is no one individual to blame; virtually the entire offense returned for the 2025 season, and virtually none of them have lived up to their own playing standards.

“Year two with Andy [Kotelnicki] and then also so many returning players on the offensive side of the ball, and we’ve been inconsistent,” Franklin said on Monday. “I know that’s part of your question, not using that word. If I had the answer, I would give it to you right now.

“That’s what we’re working through every single day is finding ways to be more consistent. That’s in our execution, in our playcalling, that’s in all of it, again, from the top all the way down, starting with me, all the coaches, the coordinators, the players.”

The most surprising part of the Penn State struggles has been that there is no obvious reason why. For Clemson, it seems the players were not as talented as the media expected. For the Nittany Lions, each game brings a new person to blame, and no one, not even Franklin, has been able to put their finger on the problem.

“Yeah, obviously, we’re not where we need to be right now,” Franklin said. “Am I surprised? Yeah, I’m surprised where we are in all three phases and where we were after last game. Yes, that’s accurate.”