Penn State makes the move that Wisconsin is afraid of, but absolutely needs to

Penn State shocked the world this morning by firing head football coach James Franklin. Wisconsin is in a worse spot than Penn State, which is currently sitting on its hands. The fear has more to do with the big $25 million buyout than the fact that it needs to happen. However, Penn State pulled the trigger with double the buyout. Franklin is owed $50 million!

There is no longer an excuse; Penn State is taking its football success seriously, and Wisconsin is not. If they let Fickell keep his job, it's hard to take Chris McIntosh or the board of regents seriously. The fear of the buyout didn't stop the Nittany Lions, but it's certainly slowing down Wisconsin.

Chris McIntosh has a ton of pressure now that Penn State has fired James Franklin

Related: Luke Fickell has no answers for Wisconsin and he admits it, 'I'm dumbfounded'

It's actually the second head coach to be fired on this Sunday. The first was Oregon State head coach Trent Bray. Coming off the most embarrassing loss against Iowa in the history of the program (because it was at home), there is a ton of pressure on Chris McIntosh to do what needs to be done.

Luke Fickell does not need to go into the stretch of potentially three ranked teams (now that Washington is receiving nearly 40 votes in the AP Poll). Let an interim coach handle that and send Fickell packing. The losses won't be as hard to stomach if fans know that there is a coaching search ongoing.

There is even a chance that maybe there can be some magic that happens in that stretch with a new voice and a new leader. Look at what is happening at UCLA. In fact, some of this James Franklin talk is a direct consequence of UCLA firing its head coach. The new interim came in and did the impossible, knocked off the Nittany Lions, and started this whole domino effect, which now needs to hit Luke Fickell.