Why did fans chant 'fire James Franklin' while Penn State coach was leaving the tunnel?

James Franklin has been the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions since 2014. And so far during his 11-season stint, he has won one conference title with the team. The Nittany Lions were undefeated heading into their week 10 showdown with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Unfortunately, their Big Ten rival proved to be a difficult hurdle for them. Despite Penn State's best efforts, the team suffered a 20-13 loss at the hands of the Buckeyes.

This was their first loss of the season, putting a dent in their hopes of being a contender in the new 12-team playoffs.

In a video shared on social media, James Franklin bears the grunt of fans while exiting the tunnel at Beaver Stadium. While the Penn State head coach was accompanied by his kids, fans started chanting that they wanted him to be fired for this loss against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

You can check out the video of fans chanting 'Fire Franklin' down below:

Last season, James Franklin helped the Cincinnati Lions to a 10-3 overall campaign. They participated in the Peach Bowl, where they lost to Ole Miss. The only Big Ten title Franklin won with the program was back during the 2016 season.

With this week's 10 loss to the Buckeyes, James Franklin and Penn State are 1-10 against their Big Ten rivals. Fans were clearly frustrated and they wanted the head coach to be gone.

This also highlights how his team struggles on the field against high-ranking teams, something that he needs to fix as soon as possible.

Penn State had an early 10-point lead in the first quarter of the game. However, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard found two touchdown passes to give the Buckeyes a four-point lead at the end of the first half (14-10).

The Nittany Lions struggled on the offense to create scoring opportunities in the second half. Ryan Barker scored a field goal in the third quarter. But Jayden Fielding's 46-yard field goal and 39-yard field goal proved to be the final nail in the coffin for James Franklin and his team.

---

James Franklin acknowledges fanbases' frustration after loss to Ohio State

In the post-game press conference, the Penn State head coach stated that he understands why his fanbase is frustrated after this week 10 loss at home. Franklin went on to talk about how his players are equally disappointed with the outcome of the game.

He also talked about how the Penn State fanbase has been great and how he takes responsibility for everything that goes down with the program.

"I understand the frustration," Franklin said. "Guys in the locker room are just as frustrated, if not more, but college football has changed. Now we have an opportunity moving forward to right some wrongs from today."

"We get an unbelievable crowd here. We get unbelievable support, you don't do that without passion. And there's great things to come from that, and there's hard things to come from that. That's part of the job and I own it all."

The Nittany Lions are next scheduled to take on the Washington Huskies in Week 11. The last four games of the regular season will be crucial for Franklin and his team if they want to compete for the conference title and the national championship.