Coming into Week 9 of the college football season, many were doubting Penn State’s chances on the road against Ohio State. After losing two games to Iowa and Illinois, the Nittany Lions were a heavy underdog on the road against Ohio State, but the Nittany Lions put up a respectable fight on the road in a hostile environment against the class of the Big Ten before losing 33-24.
The loss dropped Penn State to 5-3 on the season and just 2-3 in Big Ten play. After the game, Twitter was sounding off and venting about the results, with head coach James Franklin drawing some criticism from fans and naysayers once again.
It wasn’t all bad on Twitter though. Penn State’s defense drew some praise on a night where it did almost everything it could have done to give Penn State a chance to win. Penn State’s red zone defense was eye-popping against the Buckeyes.
Ohio State has 1 TD in 6 red zone trips today.
Buckeyes were scoring TDs on 79% of RZ trips entering today, third-best nationally.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 31, 2021
But, the game had a familiar tale to tell for Penn State and Ohio State fans. Penn State showed it is a pretty good team, but the plays it needs to win a game against Ohio State continue to go the other way far too often.
Same old story. Penn State going to play Ohio State tougher than any other Big Ten team, but not enough offense to match the Buckeyes.
— Erick Smith (@ericksmith) October 31, 2021
As for the fans, well, things got a bit more testy with some reactions.
Cant fault the effort tonight. The defense really gave its all. In the end, we see what many of us suspected about Sean Clifford 2 years ago, nice kid, decent QB, but not close to elite. Looks like we’re headed to a 7-5 season. #PSUvsOSU
— Scott Whalen (@jswhalen1) October 31, 2021
"Not our rivals" chant from OSU… sounds like a rival to me #pennstate #psuvsosu
— Michael Straw (@MDStrawPSU) October 31, 2021
No shame in the loss tonight for @PennStateFball, @coachjfranklin. Just a couple of breaks here and there and we win each of the last three games. #PSUvsOSU
— Rob McGahen (@rmcgahen) October 31, 2021
Ah, decent effort. Couple of big mistakes really hurt. #GoLions #PSUvsOSU
— Spooky RinkNeedsBeer (@RinkNeedsBeer) October 31, 2021
Bigger fraud: Franklin or Harbaugh? #Big10 #OSUvsPSU #PSUvsOSU #psu #nittanylions
— ScottfromPhilly (@Scottfromphilly) October 31, 2021
Six Redzone trips for OSU and only one TD. The defense did their job tonight, but the offense let them down again. #PSUvsOSU
— Kyle King (@Wolf_King_IV) October 31, 2021
Coach Franklin has lost the team!!! #PSUvsOSU #PennState #coachjfranklin
— Brandon Tyson (@BTyson28) October 31, 2021
Another classic #PennState loss. A game that could have, and should have, been won. So many turnovers, at the worst and most backbreaking times. Ohio State very overrated. PSU turned the ball over four times (badly) and still was in a position to beat them. Trash. #PSUvsOSU
— Brian McWilliams (@BrianMcWilliams) October 31, 2021
This #PSUvsOSU game was everything the James Franklin era has been. Good, but not great. Inconsistent and mistake prone teams.
Grateful for Franklin & want to give him a few more years as recruiting seems 📈 , but generally don't see the kind of discipline of an elite program.
— Tim Shutes (@timshutes) October 31, 2021
Who else is willing to help @coachjfranklin pack his bags and get the hell out of Penn State?!
🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️#psu #PSUvsOSU #horribleplaycalling #horriblecoaching #sorryNOTsorry
— Kristin 👻 (@kngibbons) October 31, 2021
As good as it will get with Franklin. If you like moral victories then keep him. If you have higher aspirations then we need to try a new head coach. Just my opinion.
— Shaun (@SMCioffi) October 31, 2021
Here’s hoping there are more positive vibes on Twitter after next weekend’s game against Maryland as Penn State looks to snap a three-game losing streak.
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