Penn State football HC Matt Campbell had an elite streak broken under his watch that James Franklin had held since 2018
The Penn State Nittany Lions are now 2-1 after losing to Wisconsin at home, in which they were once up 17-0.
The Penn State Nittany Lions entered Week 4 as the No. 13 team in the country. That, of course, ended with a home loss. But that wasn’t just any loss. It was a conference loss in their first Big 10 game of the year.
To make matters worse, doubters questioned this team during non-conference play. Sure, they were blowing teams out in the first three weeks. But all of those teams were smaller schools that were also just not great football programs. Not to mention, in those three games Penn State often foreshadowed some of the issues they’d face when the real competition came to town. That game was more than just a home loss, though. It snapped a streak James Franklin held.
Penn State has winning streak snapped after loss to Wisconsin
According to ESPN Stats and Info, the Penn State Nittany Lions entered Saturday on a 64-game winning streak, leading by 10 or more points in the 4th quarter since 2018. Wisconsin snapped that streak with its largest comeback victory since 2006. Penn State was, of course, up 17-0 and blew the lead at home.
Everyone loves to complain about Franklin, but I’m not sure he would have lost that game on Saturday. And who knows. Frankly, it doesn’t matter, because Campbell is the head coach of the Nittany Lions until further notice. Maybe this is just bad football at its finest, hitting them during a week like it could any other team in the country.
“Adversity is what college football is all about,” Campbell said after the game to reporters. “These are all correctable things if we’re really being humble enough to make the corrections.”
They will need quarterback Rocco Becht to play better. The receivers have to step up and create separation. The offensive line has to block better in the pass and run game. And the defense has to do a better job of getting off the field in the second half. Let’s see if they fix those things this week.
