Former Penn State Staffer Says Team Was Either Going to Win CFP or 'Implode'

The 2025 season was a national-title-or-bust one for Penn State after coming so close last season.

It reached bust status much sooner than many expected with a 3-3 start to the season, which led to the firing of head coach James Franklin.

"They were either gonna win it all—or they were gonna implode," a former Penn State staff member said of the situation, per ESPN's Jake Trotter, Adam Rittenberg and Heather Dinich.

The championship expectations were there for a reason. The Nittany Lions lost in the College Football Playoff semifinals to Notre Dame in the final minute last season and responded by bringing back a veteran-laden roster with quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and others.

As if that wasn't enough, they hired defensive coordinator Jim Knowles away from Ohio State after he helped lead the Buckeyes to the national title.

A No. 2 preseason ranking did nothing to quell the expectations, but Penn State played uninspired at times during a lackluster nonconference schedule and then lost at home to Oregon in its fourth game. It was more of the same for a program that went 4-21 under Franklin against top-10 opponents, and fans expressed their frustration during and after that game.

However, what happened next was not more of the same.

Northwestern Wildcats - Penn State Nittany Lions Highlights

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Fans were frustrated with Franklin's performance against the best teams in the country throughout his tenure, but they could always count on him beating overmatched foes. Yet that didn't happen after the Oregon loss, as Penn State dropped back-to-back games to previously winless UCLA and Northwestern to drop to 0-3 in Big Ten Play.

The program fired Franklin after the Northwestern loss and is now staring at a lost season, especially since Allar was lost to injury during the defeat.

"It's so hard mentally when you expect something big to happen," a Power Four assistant coach said of the situation. "When that gets devastated so early, some dudes just don't handle it very well."

A Big Ten title and CFP appearance is essentially out of reach for the Nittany Lions with three losses, which means they can now focus on turning things around and building some momentum heading into 2026 and the post-Franklin era.