Penn State football entered the season with the most hope it has had since Christian Hackenberg. Drew Allar was supposed to lead the Nittany Lions to the promised land in his first year as the starting quarterback.
That could still happen. Just not this year.
James Franklin’s team has two losses after falling at home to Michigan on Saturday. A New Year’s Six bowl is still in the picture, but Penn State will not play for a national title.
The Nittany Lions are 8-2. Unfortunately, more people have seen them lose than win.
To state the obvious, more college football fans are going to watch a big game between ranked opponents than a game that ultimately does not matter. Duh.
However, it is especially brutal for Penn State when the numbers are put into perspective.
Per Brett McMurphy and Nielsen ratings, more people watched the Nittany Lions lose to Ohio State and Michigan than each of their eight wins… combined! Here is how it breaks down:
- Penn State vs. Ohio State and Michigan: 19,120,000 combined viewers
- Penn State vs. West Virginia, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern, UMass, Indiana and Maryland: 17,573,000 combined viewers
James Franklin is one of the better coaches in the sport. He is paid a lot of money.
With that being said, his inability to win the big game is something that is starting to cause a lot of frustration in State College. On a more national level, a lot of college football fans have watched the Nittany Lions lose. Nowhere near as many of them watched the Nittany Lions win.
The numbers tell a pretty crazy story, even if it is common sense for more people to tune into big games. Penn State has more eyeballs on the program when it loses and that is not a good thing!