Northwestern Upsets Penn State in Happy Valley by 22-21 Final Score One Week After Nittany Lions Lose to Winless UCLA, PSU Drops to 3-3 in 2025-26 Season

By George Eisner on October 11, 2025 at 7:33 pm
Penn State head football coach James Franklin
James Lang — Imagn Images
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James Franklin and Penn State, the bell tolls for thee.

After beginning the year with a 3-0 record over the likes of Nevada, Florida International and Villanova, the Nittany Lions have now fallen back to .500 following a third straight upset on Saturday. Penn State lost in overtime to Oregon two weeks ago as home favorites before traveling to UCLA last week and becoming the first AP Top-10 team in four decades to lose to a winless team with a record of 0-4 or worse. Today, the Nittany Lions fell to the Northwestern Wildcats by a 22-21 final score after closing as 21-point favorites earlier in the afternoon.

The result has led to immediate speculation that Franklin could be relieved as Penn State head coach as early as tomorrow. Franklin stood on the field in a state of shock following the loss before the Nittany Lion crowd booed him out of Happy Valley after previously erupting into chants of "Fire Franklin" when defeat became all but a certainty for PSU.

Penn State led this game 14-13 entering the fourth quarter as both teams failed to score in the first 15 minutes out of the halftime locker room. Northwestern scored the first points of the second half with a field goal to recapture the lead, but the Nittany Lions responded promptly with a six-play, 91-yard drive in just under three and a half minutes to reach the end zone and take a 21-16 lead.

Not to be denied, the Wildcats took back possession of the ball and went on a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive of their own to once again regain the lead.

Despite trailing by less than a field goal with under five minutes left and all three timeouts, Penn State opted to get aggressive and went for it on fourth-down from their own 32 yard-line on the next possession. This decision was also made despite star quarterback Drew Allar suffering an injury on the play prior that resulted in him getting carted off to the locker room.

Backup QB Ethan Grunkemeyer could not convert the attempt on 4th & 3, resulting in a turnover on downs for Penn State. Northwestern gained 30 yards on the ground over its next five plays to force the Nittany Lions to burn all of their timeouts, and the Wildcats were able to kneel down the clock from there to cement the 22-21 upset victory.

Franklin confirmed after the game that Allar's injury will cause him to miss the rest of the 2025-26 season, quite literally adding injury to insult on what has become blossomed into a highly disappointing campaign for the Penn State football program.

Franklin's buyout projects at around or above $56 million. He has now lost four games as a favorite of 20 or more points — the most of any head coach since 2011 — and Penn State tonight became the first school in the last 30 years to lose back-to-back games when favored by 20 or more points. The defense of former Ohio State coordinator Jim Knowles has now conceded 94 points across PSU's three straight losses.

It's a bad time to be a fan of the Nittany Lions. Rejoice, Buckeye nation.


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