Watching Penn State get steamrolled by UCLA today and then remembering last week’s collapse to Oregon, you can’t help but think this program is addicted to a very specific kind of denial. When you ask a Penn State fan an actual question about what’s going wrong, half the time the reply is some glazed, tribal chant of “we are Penn State, bro.” That is not analysis. That is talking to a brick wall.

UCLA beat Penn State 42-37 today, and it was not some fluke fairy tale. Nico Iamaleava ran for three touchdowns and tossed two more while UCLA built a 20-point halftime lead and never really let go. It was the Bruins’ first win of the season and it exposed everything Penn State pretends not to have: urgency, adaptable game planning, and the ability to stop a mobile quarterback when it matters.

Last week was supposed to be a measuring stick. Penn State had every chance and folded in double overtime, losing 30-24 to Oregon after a late interception ended the game. That loss should have been a giant flashing neon warning that this team has trouble finishing against quality opponents. Instead, too many people treated it like a hiccup. It wasn’t. It was a pattern.

Here’s the thing: the campus narrative machine and the national media both get paid to build hype. They will tell you forever that “this is Penn State’s year” because it sounds good, it sells headlines, and it keeps eyeballs glued to the show. But hype is not a scheme for winning big games. The facts say otherwise. Penn State’s coaching fails to close the gap in big moments, and the film from Oregon and UCLA shows predictable mistakes and poor adjustments when the opponent takes the initiative. The media bought the story and sold it back to a fanbase eager to believe. That’s on them too.

Now let’s talk about James Franklin, because you don’t get to look at these losses and pretend coaching has nothing to do with it. Franklin has shown an uncanny ability to recruit and keep Penn State relevant. He cannot, however, consistently beat top teams. That is not a hot take, it’s a record. The mismatch between recruiting success and signature wins is obvious. The same coaching decisions, the same late-game miscues, the same questionable play calls in crunch time keep showing up when it matters most. If your argument is that Franklin is the guy who turns this program into a national title contender, the recent results are proving you wrong in real time.

So yes, Penn State fans deserve this loss, not in the “enjoy someone’s pain” way, but in the “you pushed this narrative for years without demanding accountability” way. But I do enjoy your pain as well. You cheered past mediocrity because you liked the roster on paper. You read the previews that promised a breakthrough and swallowed them whole. You defended conservative clock management as “trusting the system” when it was actually passive hope. You deserve to be uncomfortable when the team shows up with no answers.

This is fixable. It starts with less mythology and more accountability. Stop letting the “we are Penn State” line function as a shrug when the team loses tight games. Start asking the real questions: why is the defense vulnerable to mobile quarterbacks? Why do we fold in overtime or let halftime deficits balloon? Why does play calling look like a script when the opponent already knows what’s coming?

Call it harsh. Call it real. Penn State’s losses to Oregon and UCLA are not isolated incidents. They’re a pattern. If the fanbase and the program keep confusing belief for results, the same thing will happen again and again. That’s not prophecy. It’s a projection from the tape.

If you want to keep pretending every season will end differently because of a catchy pre-season narrative, go ahead. If you want to actually build something that beats the good teams, stop worshipping the brand and start demanding better coaching, smarter in-game adjustments, and more accountability from the people running the program. Until then, keep practicing that “we are Penn State” chant. It will mean nothing in the box score.