Penn State quarterback Drew Allar (15) and Penn State head coach James Franklin react after losing to Oregon in the second overtime of their NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)

Take a look around the Penn State fan base and you’ll find a lot of long faces this week. Last weekend’s crushing loss to Oregon is still tough to swallow for some, even after a few days.

But it’s also hard after a tough loss to remember that no one feels worse than the players and coaches, which Franklin reflected on Monday.

“We have lost to really good teams,” Franklin said. “I take that very hard and take that very personal because I know how important it is to so many people.”

PSU quarterback Drew Allar is also one that seems to take losing personally, which is normal in a program where expectations couldn’t be much higher coming into the season.

“When you put so much into something and you’re so personally invested, it should hurt,” Franklin said. “As much as I’d like to say, ‘I love winning as much as I hate losing,’ that’s not accurate. Drew takes it very hard. It’s why he’s so driven and so motivated. I’d probably be more concerned if it was the opposite and he didn’t take it so hard.”

The 12th-year coach said there are a lot of positives over his time at Penn State, but he acknowledged that fans don’t want to hear that sentiment at the moment. But it’s also clear he’s ready to move on to UCLA.

“I’m not going to allow one loss to define our season, and I’m not going to allow a few losses define my career, and what we have done here at Penn State,” Franklin said.

Scouting UCLA

To put it bluntly, UCLA is a team in shambles.

The Bruins fired second-year head coach DeShaun Foster on Sept. 14 after an 0-3 start. The end of last season looked promising after UCLA won four of its last six to finish 5-7, but the abysmal start with losses to Utah, UNLV, and New Mexico was enough for the university to move on.

Tim Skipper is now the interim coach after also having the interim tag on his title at Fresno State last season. He started out this season as the special assistant to Foster.

UCLA’s offensive coordinator is a name Pitt fans are familiar with in Tino Sunseri, who spent last season as a co-OC at Indiana. Sunseri was the Panthers’ starting quarterback from 2010-12.

The Bruins’ defensive coordinator is Kevin Coyle, who just arrived in Los Angeles last week. Coyle started this season as a senior defensive analyst at Syracuse before Skipper brought him on before last week’s game at Northwestern. He has been a defensive coordinator for many years, and also had a brief stint as a head coach for the Atlanta Legends in the short time that the Alliance of American Football was in existence.

Overturned call

One of the biggest turning points in Saturday’s game was when a fumble by Oregon running back Noah Whittington was returned by PSU’s Zakee Wheatley to near midfield in the third quarter. The fumble was overturned as replay officials determined Whittington’s knee was down.

Franklin said he did not see enough from the play to overturn the call on the field of a fumble.

The Ducks scored their first touchdown of the game on the next play to make it 10-3.

The Knowles factor

Nittany Lion defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has been in this situation before with national champion Ohio State last season.

The Buckeyes had two losses in the Big Ten last season to Oregon and Michigan before going on an incredible run through the College Football Playoff.

Knowles spoke to the defense and the coaching staff about his experiences last year, and Franklin said he will probably follow up with the entire team on the subject.

“He has a good perspective on these things, and a ton of information from that situation,” Franklin said. “We had conversations about it before Sunday, as well. That’s an important message for our entire team to hear.”

Staying positive

Franklin has stressed that it’s important to move on from the loss and to not allow one loss turn into two.

There is still a ton to play for this season, especially with a team as talented as the Lions. See the Ohio State discussion above for more reference.

“I don’t think a lot of people, including our players, recognize that college football has changed,” Franklin said. “It’s much more of an NFL model now in terms of records, the season, and how it goes in the playoffs.

“It’s important we stay as positive as possible. If you’re not careful, negativity can linger. We’ve had that issue in the past where one loss turns into two because there’s so much negativity, and it’s hard to get the team over it and moved on.”

Notables

• Penn State will fly out on Thursday for the 12:30 p.m. local time kickoff in Los Angeles Saturday. A similar schedule was followed when the team played at USC last season.

• Next week’s kickoff vs. Northwestern is set for 3:30 p.m. The game will be televised on FS1.