STATE COLLEGE – James Franklin has experience turning things around after losses to Ohio State.

Too much experience, many fans would likely say, as the Penn State coach, a mid-11th grader from State College, is now 1-10 against the Buckeyes.

Saturday's 20-13 loss to No. 3 Ohio State was the eighth straight loss to their heated rival, No. 4 Penn State, whose ambitions were dented by high-profile losses to the Buckeyes in several previous seasons.

While Saturday's loss to Ohio State is undoubtedly the same pain for Franklin and his players, the bigger picture impact is undoubtedly less.

“The reality of college football is that there is still everything ahead of us,” Franklin said Saturday after the game. “We have to do a great job of corrections, cleaning up the unforced errors that happened today and then we have to find a way to win at home next week. “It's all still ahead of us.”

In the past, losses to Ohio State resulted in them falling one game behind the Buckeyes in the Big Ten's Eastern Division.

Never under Franklin had Penn State managed to overcome regular-season losses to Ohio State, overtake the Buckeyes in the division standings and advance to league title play.

In other words, Penn State's path to the Big Ten championship game depended on its annual matchup with Ohio State.

But this season, with Southern Cal, UCLA, Washington and Oregon having joined the Big Ten and football membership increasing to 18, there are no more divisions.

The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the conference standings will compete for the title, with several new tiebreakers in effect.

Despite Saturday's loss, Penn State (7-1, 4-1) remains on track to finish in the top two in the conference.

Granted, the Nittany Lions have to take care of other business and also hope for a slip-up from the likes of No. 13 Indiana, No. 1 Oregon and Ohio State, all of which are now at the top of the league.

So Penn State's goal will be to limit the damage as they prepare to visit Washington on Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

“We just have to go back to the drawing board, think about it, things we did well, things we didn't do well, and then come away tomorrow, make the corrections and turn it on its head (Sunday) night and close it “We will pass to our next opponent,” said quarterback Drew Allar.

Another former consequence of the loss to Ohio State that is no longer directly applicable is its connection to Penn State's failure to achieve its College Football Playoff goals.

In the four-team era from 2014-23, no two-loss team has ever been selected.

In 2022 and 2019, Franklin's top teams faced losses to Ohio State, which finished 11-2 and ranked No. 7 and No. 9 overall, respectively.

The Buckeyes defeated Penn State en route to Big Ten titles and CFP selections in both seasons.

When Franklin's Nittany Lions managed to beat Ohio State once in 2016, Penn State won the Big Ten championship, but suffered early-season losses to No. 4 Michigan and unranked Pitt, which ultimately led to expulsion contributed from the CFP field.

Now 12 teams make the playoffs and the Nittany Lions have a chance even if they don't play in or win the Big Ten Championship.

In that case, seeds 5-12 and a possible first-round home game could still be on the table for Penn State if it finishes the season strong.

After Washington (5-4, 3-3), the Nittany Lions face Purdue (1-7, 0-5), Minnesota (6-3, 4-2) and Maryland (4-4, 1-4), none of which will be counted to complete the regular season.

While Franklin, Allar and Co. would do well not to overlook anyone on the schedule, no matter how inferior they may appear, a Penn State win and an 11-1 finish is plausible, if not likely.

An 11-1 Nittany Lions team in or around the top five would theoretically be a College Football Playoff prospect.

All speculation aside, Penn State's top priority will be to bounce back from Saturday's loss and get back on the winning list starting next week against the Huskies.

“We didn’t get the result we wanted, but for us it’s another road test,” Allar said. “You can react in two ways: you can react negatively and point fingers, or you can reflect on yourself and see what you could have done better, and that's how we're going to do it. We still have a lot to do.”