I think that Penn State had to fire James Franklin.

The Nittany Lions probably would’ve been fine next year if they held on to their head coach and returned to the 10-2 but not really an actual national title competitor form they’ve maintained for the past decade or so.

And there are worse ways to exist in the stratosphere of major college football – I was a pretty staunch advocate that Georgia was insane for doing the same thing to Mark Richt, who would have probably ended up with a national title if the playoff existed during his tenure in Athens. But Franklin lost the game he always loses, to Oregon at home, and then faceplanted twice in a row in games he never loses.

When the home fans stick around to the end of a second-straight catastrophic loss just to boo you off the field, it’s just time. Feelings matter more in college football than any other sport, and this was the kind of bad loss that tends to snowball into dried-up booster support and a few key misses in recruiting because the checkbooks aren’t open anymore.

But also, who are they going to hire? All the up-and-coming hot coaches right now have roots in the southeast, a region that Penn State famously has little use for, or are currently assembling a better team than Penn State has had in 30 years at a basketball school and probably wouldn’t leave.

Which is to say that firing James Franklin might be a bigger risk than keeping him. Even in a world where the B1G is taking $2 billion of private capital to fill out its coffers, throwing away north of $50 million to get rid of a guy who has now had exactly half of one bad season is pretty bold, even if you had to do it.

No. 8 Alabama 27, No. 14 Missouri 24

Mizzou was game up until the end, but it never really felt like Alabama was going to lose this one. The Tigers shouldn’t come away feeling any worse about their team, but the challenging part of the schedule is now underway and things could go awry in a hurry.

Ty Simpson was awesome again for the Tide, and the Week One loss to FSU looks more and more like an aberration, but Ryan Grubb’s offense is going to need to figure out how to run the ball more consistently against Tennessee next week.

No. 4 Ole Miss 24, Washington State 21

It doesn’t feel good to say, but that’s the first time it really felt like Ole Miss was playing a D2 transfer at quarterback. Trinidad Chambliss came crashing down to earth, and the Rebels let a Wazzu team that had no business hanging around stay in the game with a chance to win on the last drive. The good news is that this may have been the annual inexplicable terrible Lane Kiffin team performance, and they won anyways.

No. 6 Oklahoma 6, Texas 23

It doesn;t feel like Arch or the Horns are truly fixed, but this was a gotta have it game and they got it. Only one offensive touchdown is a little worrying, but the Sooners are going to do that to lots of teams. Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer really looked like he shouldn’t have rushed back from hand surgery so quickly, and the Texas defense finally looked like the imposing unit we expected them to be.

No. 12 Tennessee 34, Arkansas 31

Arkansas fumbled four times, a now nearly-weekly trend for the Razorbacks, and that stymied an otherwise excellent offensive performance in Bobby Petrino’s first go as interim head coach. The Razorbacks are still dangerous, but it’s hard to predict any certain wins left on the schedule. Meanwhile, Tennessee continued to be plagued by the injury bug, which is not what they need headed into a showdown with Alabama.

No. 5 Texas A&M 34, Florida 17

A&M came out hot, scoring touchdowns on the first three possessions, and then kind of just sat on the Gators until time expired. The Aggies have played as well as anyone in the country not names Indiana, but still feel weirdly untested.

No. 10 Georgia 20, Auburn 10

When SEC refs are bad enough to appear in the New York Post, you know it’s something special. A series of totally unforced errors by the officiating crew bogged down what was otherwise a merely ugly game between the two rivals. The Kirby timeout thing, even if there is a reasonable explanation, is going to live in infamy for awhile.

Auburn clearly got the short end of the stick on the game’s most visible officiating errors, but the Tigers only gained 14 yards in the second half, which is probably more responsible for the loss than anything someone with a whistle did.

No. 11 LSU 20, South Carolina 10

The LSU defense is definitely good, and that’s about the only positive takeaway from this game. Ugliness from both offenses soured what was once a promising playoff bracket busters game, and now only the Tigers still feel worth monitoring the rest of the season.

No. 24 USF 63, North Texas 36

We have a new runaway favorite for the G5 playoff bid. The Bulls run a complete Looney Tunes offense and have the juice with quarterback Byrum Brown to put a scare into plenty of good teams.

No. 7 Indiana 30, No. 3 Oregon 20

Uh, the Hoosiers are pretty clearly the scariest team in the country right now. Who knows how long that lasts, but this is not a feel-good story anymore – Curt Cignetti’s team is coming for throats.

No. 9 Texas Tech 42, Kansas 17

Texas Tech has spent its cadre of NIL money wisely, and are now the clear favorites in a chaotic Big 12 race. Like Arizona State last year, the bulk of the country might not see much of them until the playoff but this is another really good team you should be paying attention to.