James Franklin and the No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions lost 1 of the ugliest games in college football history on Saturday in State College, falling to unranked Illinois 20-18 in 9 (yes, really, 9) overtimes.

… many fans think he may have been distracted by…rumors [of taking the LSU or USC job] as Penn State was struggling its way to a brutal home loss.

Oh! You know, that would explain it! A total systems failure calls for a systemic explanation.

Franklin and the Nittany Lions lost a bizarre and ultimately baffling nine-overtime slug-gest to unranked Illinois on Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t one of those high-scoring overtime thrillers, though. It was an ugly game as a whole and a somehow even uglier outing from the Penn State offense.

Franklin, in particular, has practically lost the entire Penn State fan-base at this point. The Nittany Lions shouldn’t be losing games to teams like Illinois.

I don’t believe that.