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Jake TrotterSep 28, 2025, 12:56 AM ET
- Jake Trotter is simply a elder writer astatine ESPN. Trotter covers assemblage football. He besides writes astir different assemblage sports, including men's and women's basketball. Trotter resides successful the Cleveland country with his woman and 3 kids and is simply a instrumentality of his hometown Oklahoma City Thunder. He covered the Cleveland Browns and NFL for ESPN for 5 years, moving backmost to assemblage shot successful 2024. Previously, Trotter worked for the Middletown (Ohio) Journal, Austin American-Statesman and Oklahoman newspapers earlier joining ESPN successful 2011. He's a 2004 postgraduate of Washington and Lee University. You tin scope retired to Trotter astatine jake.trotter@espn.com and travel him connected X astatine @Jake_Trotter.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- After the latest nonaccomplishment to a Top 10 opponent, Nittany Lions manager James Franklin said helium understands the increasing vexation of the Penn State instrumentality base.
The third-ranked Nittany Lions fell 30-24 successful treble overtime to No. 6 Oregon connected Saturday nighttime earlier a "White Out" assemblage astatine Beaver Stadium.
The decision dropped Franklin to 4-21 astatine Penn State against Associated Press apical 10 opponents, including 1-18 against apical 10 Big Ten apical teams.
"I get that communicative and it's truly not a communicative -- it's factual. It's the facts," Franklin said. "I effort to look astatine the full representation and what we've been capable to bash here. But astatine the extremity of the day, we got to find a mode to triumph those games. I wholly get it. And I instrumentality ownership. I instrumentality responsibility."
Franklin's .160 winning percent against AP apical 10 teams present ties him for the third-worst grounds by a caput manager (minimum of 25 games) astatine a azygous schoolhouse since the canvass epoch began successful 1936, according to ESPN Research.
"We person a passionate instrumentality base," Franklin said. "When we win, there's thing better. When we lose, there's thing worse. So I get it. I get the vexation that comes with a instrumentality basal that is invested and cares."
The Nittany Lions astir pulled disconnected their biggest fourth-quarter comeback since 2016 against Ohio State -- which remains Franklin's lone Big Ten triumph against a apical 10 opponent.
Penn State trailed 17-3. But elder backmost Drew Allar engineered back-to-back touchdown drives to nonstop the crippled to overtime. The Nittany Lions past scored a touchdown connected the 3rd play of the opening overtime possession.
But the Ducks answered with their ain touchdown, past scored different connected the archetypal play of the 2nd overtime.
On the ensuing snap, Allar threw an interception to Dillon Thieneman, sealing the melodramatic triumph for the Ducks.
"I tried to get the shot implicit the guy's head," Allar said. "He jumped up and caught the ball."
During Big Ten media days implicit the summer, Allar said it was clip for Penn State "to get implicit that hump" successful large games. Allar's fourth-quarter interception successful the College Football Playoff semifinals past play acceptable up Notre Dame's game-winning tract extremity and ended Penn State's season.
Allar, Penn State's starter since 2023, is present 0-6 successful his vocation against AP apical 6 opponents -- his lone triumph against a apical 10 squad coming successful past year's CFP quarterfinals against Boise State.
"Obviously, it hurts," Allar said. "We had our opportunities. ... But it's a agelong play up of us. We're going to person much opportunities to hole this -- and I'll beryllium the archetypal 1 to spell into the fire."
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