It’s been a rough stretch for Penn State.

First, the team loses a double-overtime thriller to 6th-ranked Oregon. Then, the Nittany Lions lost to a winless UCLA team, despite being favored by 24.5 points. And finally, Penn State’s quarterback gets injured, the team loses to Northwestern, and the university decides to fire its longtime coach, James Franklin.

It gets worse.

Quarterback Drew Allar suffered a season-ending injury and has no college eligibility left to return.

Franklin, with a lifetime record at Penn State of 104-45, is due $50 million from the university, which is the second-largest buyout in college football history.

And the Nittany Lions, ranked as high as the number two team in the country earlier this season, fell out of the top-25 altogether.

Jerry Sandusky must be turning over in some young man’s grave right now.

The biggest coaching names being rumored to replace Franklin are Curt Cignetti of Indiana and Nebraska’s Matt Rhule.

Cignetti led Indiana (6-0) to an impressive victory over the 3rd-ranked Oregon Ducks this weekend, and has the Hoosiers ranked #3 in both the AP and ESPN polls.

The Hoosiers are ranked third? Is this college football or a college hoops ranking circa 1980?

Hoosier Daddy? Apparently, it’s Curt Cignetti.

As for Matt Rhule. Rhule was a former walk-on player at Penn State, head coach in the NFL, and currently has his Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1) ranked in the top-25.

But Penn State needs to follow this Rhule of Thumb. If your prospective coach had a record of 11-27 in the NFL, just 16-14 at Nebraska, and 75-84 overall, you don’t hire him.

Credit via KOCO

Speaking of young men, did you see that entire section of Oklahoma State Cowboy fans with their shirts off? The clip went viral, but those boys may want to work on their tans. At first, I thought it was a White Out game.

Speaking of White Out games, Penn State better get a coach and all those recruits back. Or next season, fans will be walking white out of the stadium.

Oklahoma State looks like they’re having fun, but the Oklahoma Sooners sure aren’t. Quarterback John Mateer threw 3 interceptions in a 28-6 loss to the Texas Longhorns. Looks like Mateer and the Sooners are not that special, and just OK.

At least Bill Belichick avoided losing this week as North Carolina had a bye week. Belichick did hold a press conference in which he categorically denied that he was looking for an exit or a buyout from the university following an embarrassing start to the season.

Ummm, Bill. You lost your home opener 48-14, your ACC home opener 38-10, you make $10 million a year, and at 73 years of age, you’re walking around campus with a 24-year-old former cheerleader.

Pretty sure it’s not YOU that wants the buyout.

James Franklin wasn’t looking for a buyout either.

It may have been a bye week, but you lose to Cal on Saturday, and I’m guessing it’s a bye-bye week.

Staying with the theme, Oregon State fired its head coach, Trent Bray, after starting the season 0-7. Bray responded by suggesting that if he were given a little more time, he could have guaranteed finishing no worse than second in the PAC-12 this season.

And in the NFL, the Tennessee Titans (1-5) fired head coach Brian Callahan. Ironic that Callahan knocked me out of my Survivor pool with a miracle win over Arizona but couldn’t survive much longer.

Credit via Instagram

Maybe Arizona was a bad pick, but not as bad a pick as Trevor Lawrence had last Thursday night. And I’m not talking about an interception.

Credit via YouTube

Speaking of picks, I like the Dodgers over the Mariners in the World Series this year. Cal (Big Dumper) Raleigh and his 60 HRs are terrific, but I generally go with the team with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and a $400 million payroll.

Still regretting that I never trademarked “Big Dumper.” Never much of a homerun hitter, but I do have IBS.

Talk about a big dumper. Did you catch Justin Fields and the New York Jets in London?

Fields was sacked nine times, the team had negative ten yards passing, and the Jets moved to 0-6 on the season after a 13-11 loss to the Denver Broncos.

If the Brits wanted a low-scoring game, void of offense, with a player on his back every other play, they could have stuck with soccer.

Jets coach Aaron Glenn even tried to implement “Stoppage Time”. Halftime should have ended much earlier, but Glenn’s time management blunders added another ten minutes.

Last note. Very proud of the Colorado Buffaloes (3-4) and their 24-17 victory over the 22nd-ranked Iowa State Cyclones (5-2). But the only one who should be storming the field against Iowa State is Ralphie, before the game, and just after halftime. Ohio State for sure, but Iowa State? We’re better than that.

Credit via Colorado Public Radio

Images via Pittsburghpost-gazette, Instagram, KOCO, youtube, coloradopublicradio

Alan Tapley The Athletic Supporter

Alan Tapley is an educator, author, and blogger who has lived just outside of Boulder for the last twenty years.  His published work includes two novels, two children’s books, a series of cartoons in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and multiple sports related articles. His love for family and the state of Colorado is only matched by one thing, his passion for sports.  The first baseball game he ever attended was at Wrigley Field, before there were lights.  At the final Bronco game at the old Mile High, he allegedly cut out a piece of his seat in the South stands.  But regardless of being here for the Avalanche’s last Stanley Cup, the Rockies only World Series appearance, and all the Broncos’ Super Bowl Victories, his wife never fails to remind him that he wasn’t at the University of Colorado in 1990, like she was.  The year the Buffs football team won the National Championship