James Franklin is still looking for a recent breakthrough for Penn State in recent seasons after its most recent loss to Ohio State. However, the head coach still believes his program has a lot of work to do at this point.

During the offseason, Franklin tested the need for the Nittany Lions to play their best football in the biggest moments. Obviously, that didn’t happen on Saturday, as the offense surrendered just 2 field goals to go with a defensive pick-6 in the Buckeyes’ 20-13 win.

At the weekly press conference, Franklin was asked about Penn State not delivering in the big time and acknowledged that the quality of the opponent plays a factor in that area. The Nittany Lions finally had chances to provide a key moment, but came up with a pair of first-and-goal situations that proved to be the difference.

“Obviously, after the game we just played, we didn’t play our best football. Like the comment I made about the running game, the competition factors into that. At the end of the day, we lost to a top-5 team and one of the top programs in the country and we had opportunities to win the game — and we’ve had opportunities to win these types of games in the past,” Franklin said. “We have to find a way to do that, and that starts with me.”

Even with the loss, Franklin still has a level of pride in where his program has been on a regular basis, something he believes other teams around the country are “envious of”:

“But I’m also very, very proud of where our team has been consistently, and I think most programs would be envious of where we’ve been consistently for almost 10-plus years,” Franklin asserted.

This is certainly up for debate, as many have criticized the lack of signature wins for Franklin’s tenure. With the new Big Ten schedule, he may have to wait even longer before his team gets another chance.