“That’s his job”: Paul Finebaum holds nothing back on James Franklin after crushing Notre Dame loss

Penn State Nittany Lions lost the Orange Bowl 27-24 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Thursday as James Frankin & Co. missed out on making the national championship game.

On Friday, analyst Paul Finebaum went on "The Matt Barrie Show" to discuss his belief that Franklin is a major reason the Nittany Lions lost. Barrie discussed Drew Allar's bad performance, and Paul Finebaum answered by blaming Franklin for putting him in that situation and failing to adjust.

"Some of our friends up and down the network are saying, well, you can’t blame James Franklin. Yes, you can," Finebaum said (starts at 2:00). "He knows all that. That’s his job. And he didn’t make the decision, but he gave the keys to the car to the guy who did, and I didn’t see the upside. You know, overtime is always risky, and I hate it, frankly, the way some of the overtime (games have gone).

"But you know, with that defense, with the game wrecker that they have on that side of the ball, I mean, I want to take my chance, as opposed to just throwing and that’s exactly what he did. If you’re not going to make a good decision in that situation, when are you going to make a good decision? So why give him the chance?"

Paul Finebaum talks about Drew Allar and bouncing back under James Franklin

Paul Finebaum went on to talk about Drew Allar's performance. He believes that he will bounce back from this and become a better player.

"Drew is a passionate guy," Finebaum said. "He invested so much into his development but also to his teammates and to Penn State, and he’ll handle this like he handles everything else, with a first-class approach and with an investment level that’s as good as anybody in the country.

"His jump as a year-one starter to a year-two starter was significant. He’s got a chance to take another step next year. But he’ll handle it the right way. He’s hurting right now. Should be hurting. We’re all hurting. This ain’t easy to get in here right after the game and have a conversation after you just poured your guts out on that field and really did it all year long."

Before the game, there were rumors that if the Nittany Lions won the national championship, Drew Allar would declare for the NFL draft. That no longer looks likely as he will most likely stay in college for another season.