Nittany Lions rise from the ashes
INDIANAPOLIS聽鈥� Sitting in Section 236 of Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday, I looked around at the pro-Penn State crowd and realized that a Big Ten championship wasn鈥檛 supposed to happen.
Well, at least not for another year.
Down 28-7 in the second quarter, Penn State rallied for a 38-31 win over Wisconsin to earn its fourth, and most improbable, Big Ten championship and the celebration after the game was something for this longtime Penn State fan to experience.
As James Franklin accepted the Big Ten championship trophy on the stand after the game, I thought about how far this team has come since halftime of its overtime win against Minnesota on Oct. 1.
However, I could not stop thinking back to a 17-14 loss to Nebraska at Beaver Stadium on Nov. 12, 2011.
That was the first game after a shocking revelation that changed the public view of Penn State forever, and I was one of the 107,193 fans there that day for what felt like a funeral.
The NCAA slapped Penn State with sanctions just short of the proverbial death penalty, or in the eyes of some experts, even worse.
Stripped of scholarships, among other punishments, the Penn State football program was left for dead.
I remember watching ESPN College Gameday on opening day of the 2012 season and Lee Corso saying that it would be聽10 years until Penn State would hit .500 again.
Bill O鈥橞rien was hired to take over the helm and in his two years, the team went 8-4 and 7-5.
When O鈥橞rien left for the Houston Texans of the NFL, Pennsylvania native James Franklin was hired from Vanderbilt.
When the team went 7-6 in each of his first two seasons, and after a 49-10 loss at Michigan earlier this year that dropped Penn State to 2-2, fans were calling for Franklin蘑菇视频 head.
It didn鈥檛 matter that six of Penn State蘑菇视频 first seven opponents were undefeated at the time of those games.
Nor did it matter to fans that Penn State played that game without any scholarship linebackers due to injury or that Penn State is the second youngest team at the FBS level.
Athletic Director Sandy Barbour gave Franklin a vote of confidence that week and with Penn State trailing 13-3 to Minnesota at halftime, fans were wondering if the team would even make it to 6-6 and become bowl eligible.
Something seemed to click during halftime, and Penn State has not looked back since as it has reeled off nine straight wins including an improbable聽victory over Ohio State on Oct. 22.
Back to Saturday.
The environment was something to see, especially after Penn State started cutting into the Wisconsin lead and trailed 28-14 at halftime.
But like it has done all season, Penn State went on a second-half tear scoring on six straight possessions.
Franklin蘑菇视频 recruits, while still young as the team only had four seniors start Saturday, were making plays.
West Newton native and longtime high school coach George Stevenson went to his first Penn State game in 1966 and has been to numerous bowl games including both the 1982 and 1986 national championship wins.
鈥淭he athletes and (offensive coordinator) Joe Moorhead蘑菇视频 offense mesh perfectly,鈥� Stevenson said after the game in Indianapolis. 鈥淭his is amazing, and it wasn鈥檛 supposed to happen this fast.
鈥淭his team is so young and is only going to get better.
鈥淣ot one skilled starter is a senior, we started three freshmen on the line, and although only four seniors started, they are amazing leaders.鈥�
It is an understatement to say that Franklin蘑菇视频 hiring of Moorhead as offensive coordinator has been his biggest hire to date, but the hiring of Matt Limegrover as the new offensive line coach also deserves mention.
When Moorhead was hired, I was excited not because of his skill as a coach, and he will be a head coach at the FBS level shortly, but it was more personally.
I met Joe in 2003 when I was an assistant at Monessen.
Then a coach at Georgetown, he recruited Mikey Blainefield from Monessen to play at Georgetown.
Moorhead has since had stops at Akron, UConn and then as a head coach at Fordham.
I followed each team from afar, and we reconnected after his Penn State hiring and have exchanged texts each week of this season.
It won鈥檛 be a surprise when Moorhead is hired to take over a program, and Penn State fans need to enjoy him while he is here and what he has helped implement.
But for as good of a coach as Moorhead is, he is聽10 times the person.
While accolades have been thrown his way for what he has done with Penn State蘑菇视频 offense, Moorhead has only publically credited his players and will not take credit.
Stevenson wasn鈥檛 the only local fan to make the trip to Indianapolis as I-70 was a nonstop and constant caravan of Penn State bumper stickers and magnets.
Belle Vernon Area and Penn State alumnus Brian Luzanski flew in from Baltimore to watch the game with his dad who drove.
鈥淭he entire experience was great and naturally all of the places to hang out around the stadium were taken over by Penn State fans,鈥� said Luzanski, who graduated from PSU with an accounting degree in 2012. 鈥淲hat an amazing experience to be a part of and to see where the program was my senior year when the sanctions hit to the celebration Saturday night, it was a wild ride that few universities would have overcome.
鈥淲hat the players and coaches accomplished is truly remarkable.鈥�
There is one more stop for Penn State as it will play in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Jan. 2.
And it will be one more chance for fans of the Penn State program to enjoy this team.
These results were anticipated for 2017 or 2018, but this success will help the program for years to come in terms of recruiting.
Penn State was supposed to be irrelevant for years because of the sanctions handed down by the NCAA.
And how fitting is it that Penn State won the Big Ten championship literally a one mile walk form the NCAA offices?
The NCAA left Penn State for dead.
Now, Penn State is blooming on the field, and it can smell the roses.