Someone shared this in another thread:
In the final 6 minutes of its loss to Nebraska, Penn State's offense got into the red zone twice. And it failed. Twice. Since Kirk Ciarrocca makes over $1 million and James Franklin over $6 million, I'd prefer to blame the plays that were called rather than the players not executing them.
www.statecollege.com
One nugget at the end - which you can take with a huge grain of salt as it's coming from Zach Smith - but still I think speaks to your 2nd point:
""When we would lose a recruit to Penn State," said Smith, who coached at Ohio State from 2012-18 before being fired by Urban Meyer and subsequently found guilty of violating a protection order, "it was because, 'Penn State is fun and they're cool and they're hip and the coaches are really cool.' And it was like, 'OK, at Ohio State we're not cool at all. We just coach you hard and develop you...Every now and then you have to be an asshole. They've had success. But in my opinion, that's why they can't get over the hump.""
Franklin has certainly shown the big personality and "hip" vibe since being at PSU. Huge players coach, cheerleader, and positive face of the program. That worked well when building and while the team was winning, but now that the wheels have fully come off the train the question is does Franklin have the personality to reign in the hip / fun nature and get back to the grindstone? I don't know the answer but thus far it doesn't look that way with the celebrations after tackles 7 yards down field.