Penn State coach James Franklin hired Jim Knowles away from Ohio State this offseason with the hopes of putting together the best defense in college football and chasing a national championship in 2025.

Penn State had No. 1 stop rate defense in the country going into its showdown with Oregon. After a brutal three-game stretch, the Franklin era is over in State College. It's hard to fathom how we got here, but the Nittany Lions' inability to get stops in critical moments clearly played a big role.

What is stop rate? It's a basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense's drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. Defensive coordinators have the same goal regardless of their scheme, opponent or conference: prevent points and get off the field. Stop rate is a sim

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