With seven seconds left in the College Football Playoff, James Franklin was reduced to hoping that Notre Dame’s special teams would find a way not to close the door on Penn State’s season.
But Marcus Freeman, who was about to turn 39 years old in a few hours, and the Fighting Irish weren’t going to be charitable.
Mitch Jeter’s 41-yard field goal made all kinds of twists and turns before settling between the goalposts.
Notre Dame 27, Penn State 24
Once the Nittany Lions didn’t get a miracle on the final play (more on that later), every graphic designer in the media world had the infographic ready to go.
Franklin is 1-15 against AP Top 5 teams.
It’s easy to say that this was the expected result from Coach “Can’t Win the Big One.” Losing a game that the Nittany Lions seem to be in control of for most is on-brand for Franklin, ignoring that it took two playoff wins to get to the Orange Bowl.
Of course, the detractors will say those wins came against SMU and Boise State as if any one-and-done playoff structure isn’t full-fledged survive-and-advance.
As much as fans don’t want to hear this, Franklin did the correct thing, trying to see if he could win on the final play. It wasn’t a bad decision. It was a bad play call. It was a mistake made by Drew Allar, who has been good enough for NFL scouts to project him to be selected in the first two rounds of the upcoming draft if he changes his mind and leaves Penn State.
Let’s revisit the final play. If you go back and watch, Penn State has it set up. When Allar throws the ball back across the field, there’s a caravan of Penn State blockers with no more than two Notre Dame defenders. But alas, Allar threw the ball out of bounds.
Like most schools with history, Penn State’s fan base can be disillusioned with its current identity.
The 12-team playoff (which will expand) is made for Franklin. Being in a major conference (Big Ten) that doesn’t play a round-robin schedule is made for a coach who generally doesn’t lose to teams with less talent. At the very least, Penn State will be in the playoff conversation in most seasons.
Last night’s loss will sting for a while, but Penn State has the right coach for this era of college football.
