The 2020 season was a disappointing one in Happy Valley. With aspirations of knocking off Ohio State, winning a B1G title and competing in the College Football Playoff, Penn State’s 4-5 finish was major gut punch for the program.

What’s worse? The season started with the Nittany Lions dropping their first five games, the worst start in program history. The team recovered nicely to close out the year, winning its final four contests to get a bit closer to the .500 mark.

Make no mistake, though, that four-game winning streak doesn’t make up for the abysmal start. Former Penn State wide receiver and Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Chris Godwin made it pretty clear that beginning a season with an 0-5 record is inexcusable at a program of that caliber.

Godwin does have faith that, under James Franklin, the team will bounce back in 2021.

“I think they’ll bounce back,” Godwin said on the Pat McAfee Show, per 247Sports. “They had a rough year; I don’t know what was going on, man, but it was tough to watch at times, you know what I mean? It’s tough to watch your boys start off 0-5. But then they flipped it around in the second half, I think they won like four straight or something like that. But that’s unacceptable at Penn State and I got faith that they gonna bring it back.”

Penn State has been largely successful under Franklin’s tenure in State College. The Nittany Lions are 60-28 over the past seven seasons with 2020 being the only losing record in that time. Penn State has also reached the 11-win mark three times in the past five seasons.

There’s reason to believe Penn State can turn it around quickly.

Godwin was a key piece for the Tampa Bay offense during the 2020 season, helping lead the franchise to a Super Bowl LV victory. He ended the year catching 65 passes for 840 yards and 7 touchdowns.