On January 6, 2012, Penn State announced that Bill O’Brien would take the reins of the Nittany Lion football program. A program that, at the time, was ravaged by scandal and left without a clear path forward. The hiring marked a turning point for the program.

In his two-year tenure, O’Brien was able to do what many thought was impossible. He kept the core of the Penn State team intact amid sanctions and went on to deliver an improbable winning season in 2012. He made sure recruiting was not hindered, and even brought in five-star quarterback Christian Hackenberg to set the tone for the post-Paterno era of Penn State Football.

However, after the 2013 season, O’Brien decided that he would depart Happy Valley and the newfound culture he had built to take a head coaching position with the Houston Texans. While many were unhappy with this move and felt a sense of betrayal, it is a widespread consensus that O’Brien deserves a lot of credit for saving the program.  

Enter James Franklin.

On January 11, 2014, James Franklin was officially tasked with picking up where O’Brien had left off. A task that would not be easy, especially since Penn State was still under close watch by the media and subject to heavy criticism from the public.

The first two years of the Franklin era were lackluster. The team finished both seasons with seven victories apiece, and the Nittany Lions lacked a signature win under his tutelage. In 2014, Penn State came close to defeating No. 13-ranked Ohio State, but ultimately fell in double overtime at Beaver Stadium. 

While upsetting a ranked team seemed unlikely, even in the wake of sanctions being rolled back just weeks prior, expectations were still high after the foundation and recruiting classes Penn State was able to establish in years prior. 

In 2016, everything changed. 

On October 22, 2016, a Marcus Allen blocked field goal and return by Grant Haley helped put Penn State back on the map. The Nittany Lions defeated the No. 2-ranked Buckeyes as almost 20-point home underdogs, a win that would set the stage for a Big Ten title run. 

Just five years after all hope was lost, Franklin’s squad completed the return to national prominence. Out of nowhere, the future was bright for the blue-collar team from State College, Pennsylvania.  

That 2016 roster had immense talent. From Saquon Barkley to Chris Godwin to Trace McSorley to Mike Gesicki to Brandon Bell, these players had all been recruited and developed by O’Brien or Franklin, and bought into the Penn State culture and mentality.

Their successes enticed talented high school athletes to commit to Penn State, a trend that is still prominent nearly a decade later. In turn, Franklin established himself as an elite recruiter in the college football landscape.

But while Penn State continues to see NFL-caliber players come into the program and graduate, it has not been able to get over the “hump” when it comes to finding success on the field since that magical 2016 run. 

Since the Nittany Lions were crowned Big Ten Champions, the team has returned to Indianapolis just once, where it lost to Oregon in 2024. Wins in the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Cotton Bowl are overshadowed by the fact that Penn State has zero regular-season wins against top-10 opponents since that famous Ohio State upset.

The Penn State faithful have endured many 10-2 and 9-3 seasons in the Franklin era. These are records a majority of fanbases across America wish they could say applied to their teams. Penn State has been one of the most consistent programs in the country, delivering winning season after winning season while avoiding major upsets, generally speaking.

But there comes a time when simply being consistent doesn’t satisfy the masses. For a program with such a storied history and tradition of excellence, it is understandable that the fanbase would yearn for something that it hasn’t experienced in 40 years.

Two weeks ago, Penn State lost to Oregon in its annual White Out. The game featured two top-six teams, and Franklin would aim to quell the “big-game narrative” with a statement Nittany Lion win. Yet, as so often has been the case for Penn State under Franklin, the blue and white fell in the matchup. In what started out as the most anticipated Penn State season in decades, all of the major offseason moves and preparation suddenly seemed to be for naught.

While the team sat at 3-1, it still found itself in the AP top-10 with a very clear path to the College Football Playoff. Most expected that the remainder of the season would transpire the way it usually does. Penn State would win the matchups they are favored in, and once again drop a game in Columbus to Ohio State. If this were to happen, the Nittany Lions would in all likelihood be staring down their second consecutive playoff berth.

Last weekend, the team made its way to the West Coast for a game in the Rose Bowl against the 0-4 UCLA Bruins. The iconic stadium is the same venue where Penn State’s 2016 season came to a heartbreaking end.

Against one of the worst teams in all of college football, the Nittany Lions gave up 42 points and lost the game. 13 years later, Penn State once again faces a turning point.

Much like it was in 2012, the path forward for the program is not clear. But we must first acknowledge the reality of the situation in order to provide some perspective. We owe it to O’Brien and Franklin that our biggest concern is not whether the program can survive, but how we can ensure it thrives at the apex of our sport.

Let’s be honest. As it stands right now, both the immediate and near future look bleak for Penn State. That’s not to say that the Nittany Lions can’t salvage this season by going on a miracle run, but why should we as fans expect anything different from the norm we’ve been accustomed to?

The UCLA loss was much more than a poor showing. It marked a realization that the doubts of the fanbase may finally be justified. The idea that Penn State football may have reached its peak under Franklin is now a very real possibility.

But how do you move forward this season knowing that the supposed most talented roster of the Franklin era will, in all likelihood, be competing in a sub-par bowl game? On a larger scale, how do you grapple with the possibility of parting ways with the coach who brought this program back into the limelight?

It’s okay to be uncertain. As Penn Staters, we have long endured periods of uncertainty, with clarity only coming with the passing of time. 

It’s okay to not have an opinion, either. It seems as if the majority of the fanbase is polarized, with the coaching staff at the center of the division. It’s also acceptable to support the team and not the head coach, something that is unfamiliar to generations of Penn Staters, and hard for many to grasp. 

The upcoming game against Northwestern is going to be ugly, to put it bluntly. The boo birds will be out in full force, and there is a likely chance that the student section will be emptier than we are accustomed to seeing for a 3:30 kickoff in October. Just envisioning it makes many people, including myself, sad and somewhat uncomfortable. 

I’m not here to convince people to attend or not attend the game; do as you please. But what I will say is that Penn State football is way more than a game, and it’s way more than a team. 

Growing up, attending Penn State games every year with my family was always something I looked forward to. I was proud to be part of such a strong community and experience all the traditions that made the university so unique. 

Beaver Stadium is my happy place, and watching Penn State football is one of my favorite things on the planet. I can honestly say that I’ve said more prayers in Beaver Stadium than I have in my place of worship. It means that much to me.

While last week’s game was a gut punch, I find myself at relative ease. Knowing that I will get to watch Penn State football week in and week out gives me comfort in and of itself, despite sharing the same sense of disappointment and even anger with most of my fellow fans. 

I also think I’ve learned not to fear change. My first memories of Penn State football were in the aftermath of 2011. It’s pretty difficult to be naive when your favorite team goes through what this program did, as I quickly learned that being a fan of the Nittany Lions would mean embracing the unknown.

In 2018, after a loss to Ohio State, Franklin gave a press conference that is now somewhat infamous. During it, he talked about making the jump from being a great program to an elite program. 

Seven years later, I’m not so sure we’re there yet. But what I do know is that the season isn’t over, and that our biggest, immediate concern is trying to salvage a chance at a national title. If somebody told you this would be the case 13 years ago, you may have called them crazy.

We’re at a turning point, Penn State. Let’s move forward together once again.