Penn State football… at least it’s not Texas?

Penn State fans were fuming after watching their beloved Nittany Lions fall for the fourth time in five games, the latest setback coming at home against the Michigan Wolverines. Penn State once looked like a team capable of making a serious push for the Big Ten championship game after one month of the football season but is now fighting for a chance to lock up fourth place in the Big Ten East.

As much as things have been sour for Penn State over the past month of the season, the Texas Longhorns offered a reminder that things could be a bit more frustrating. Texas managed to score 56 points at home against the lowly Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday night… and lost.

If you thought Penn State losing at home in nine overtimes to Illinois was bad, well, it was. But compared to losing an offensive shootout to a Kansas team that was 127th in the nation in scoring average with just 15.1 points per game coming into the week, the Longhorns trumped Penn State in the category of bad conference losses.

Texas joined some company the Longhorns should be embarrassed to be a part of. Over the past decade of football, Kansas has beaten just four teams on multiple occasions. Texas is the only one from a power conference, and two others are FCS schools.

Texas’ loss to Kansas was even more devastating to the Longhorns as Texas is now one loss away from clinching a losing season. At least we know Penn State will be heading to a bowl game with no fewer than six wins under its belt. At 4-6, Texas needs to avoid losing a game to either West Virginia (in Morgantown) or at home against Kansas State to preserve a shot at a .500 season.

Does that make it easier to accept Penn State’s recent struggles? Absolutely not, but it does help broaden the perspective of where things stand in college football. Winning games is hard no matter what your budget is. The bar for success is significantly high for programs like Penn State and Texas and neither team is coming close to passing those bars this season.

But while Penn State fans are stressing out over the state of the program, just know that there actually are some programs that have it worse off too.

Related

Race to the B1G Championship coming down to the wire

Report Card: Grading Penn State's loss to Michigan

Even after loss to Michigan, Sean Clifford deserves your respect

Penn State Twitter had enough of James Franklin after loss to Michigan

Instant Reaction: Penn State falls to Michigan late, 21-17

List

5 takeaways from Penn State's 21-17 loss to Michigan

Follow Nittany Lions Wire on Twitter and like us on Facebook for continuing Penn State coverage and discussion.