Ten Years Later: A Look Back At How BSD Covered The 2016 Penn State Football Season
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What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when somebody brings up the 2016 Penn State football season? Perhaps it’s Saquon Barkley’s walk-off game-winning touchdown against Minnesota in overtime, or the block-six that led to the dramatic upset win over Ohio State, or maybe it’s the epic comeback win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game, replete with Trace McSorley’s home run celebration after throwing yet another TD strike.
I’m not here to do a game-by-game re-hashing of that memorable season, but rather I was curious to know how we here at BSD covered the season: From preseason record predictions to that magical night against Ohio State, to the wild but ultimately heartbreaking Rose Bowl, with a little bit in between. So, with that being said, let’s hop into the DeLorean and head back to a decade ago…
Preseason Predictions
Given that Penn State was coming off back-to-back seven-win seasons and had replaced both of its coordinators, with Joe Moorhead (presumably) providing an upgrade to the offense after John Donovan was fired, and Brent Pry taking over as defensive coordinator after Bob Shoop opted to for the same position at Tennessee under then-head coach and “champion of life” Butch Jones, the predictions were somewhat muted. The vast majority of the staff (including Yours Truly) were predicting 8-4 or 9-3, with Jared being the most pessimistic of the bunch, picking 7-5, while former BSD writer Ross Owen was the only one who correctly predicted 10-2 (though one of those wins included Michigan, while Michigan State was pegged as one of the two losses).
The last paragraph of Ross’ 10-2 projection is especially an interesting one to look at:
A confidence-builder against Rutgers sets up a game against MSU with the B1G East title on the line (Michigan also will have only one conference loss). The Spartans’ quarterback questions are answered by then, and they deliver a huge upset over the Nittany Lions with weather and/or injuries playing a factor. With a finish of 10-2, the brief pain of the MSU loss will be overshadowed by the overall success of the season. People start projecting huge results for the 2017 season, and apologize for criticizing my preseason predictions.
While I’m sure many fans were apologizing for criticizing his prediction, I’m sure they were glad that upset loss to Michigan State didn’t come to fruition.
Post-Michigan Wound-Licking
By the end of September, Penn State sat at 2-2 after receiving a 49-10 shellacking at the hands of a Michigan team that did whatever they pleased against a hapless defense that seemingly lost its entire scholarship linebacking corps. The title of Eli’s recap alone, says its all, and the post-game link dump reads like a whole bunch of “now what”, “here’s what’s missing” and “don’t give up on this team” type of material. To even suggest without a hint of sarcasm that this team would go on to win nine straight games to close out 2016 would have gotten you referred to a mental institution.
A “Fingerprint” Win
I think we’ve covered the 2016 win over Minnesota to death on this website. Heck, we even kicked off our Happy Valley Rewind series a few months ago on our YouTube channel (which you should absolutely subscribe to, if you haven’t already done so) with this particular game. That being said, it’s worth looking back at former BSD colleague Chris Taylor’s lengthy day-after write up, in which he makes the case that if not a ‘signature’ win, it was certainly a ‘fingerprint’ win
This win had James Franklin’s fingerprints all over it, if not his signature. His heralded recruiting classes were on display throughout the game as younger players stepped in due to injuries and also their being the best option on the team as underclassmen. The young players brought in by Franklin helped grab this game from the jaws of defeat.
“Christmas Came Early to State College, Pennsylvania This Year”
Those were the immortal words written by our former colleague Adam Collyer, in his “Random Thoughts” post after James Franklin got his signature win against Ohio State. I highly recommend reading all 57 of his random thoughts, but it’s thought numbers 20 and 45 in particular that I feel deserve highlighting:
Trace McSorley’s stat line didn’t do justice to the game he played. We’ve discussed the drops at length, but the stat line still doesn’t capture the good decisions he made all night. While he launched a few passes into man coverage, he never put himself in pick-6 territory and threw the ball away when he needed to. Given the pick-6 history of this rivalry, you can’t blame the crowd for being nervous, but he did what he had to do to protect the ball.
The surest way to Penn State immortality is to make big plays on the biggest stages. That’s why I know who Gregg Garrity is, despite being born in 1984. That’s why we all remember Ethan Kilmer and Mark Rubin. It’s why, no matter how the rest of their careers (college and pro) go, we’ll always remember Marcus Allen and Grant Haley.
The stat line Adam refers to is Trace going 8-for-23 passing for 154 yards and a TD pass (but no interceptions), as well as his 63 rushing yards and a TD. It wasn’t the prettiest of stat lines, and Trace played far from a perfect game, but he didn’t do anything catastrophically bad that permanently swung momentum towards Ohio State. And of course, whenever the names Marcus Allen or Grant Haley are brought up, the video below automatically queues in Penn State fans’ heads.
With A Little Help From Our Friends In Columbus
Going into the season finale against Michigan State, the Nittany Lions needed some outside help in the form of Ohio State beating Michigan in “The Game.” I can still recall walking by tailgates with PSU fans glued to the TV, doing O-H…I-O chants as the Buckeyes came back to force overtime in Columbus. However, it was during PSU’s game itself that fans and eventually the players learned that the home team in Happy Valley controlled its own destiny, after OSU clinched it in OT. The first couple of paragraphs of the recap from PSU’s 45-12 shellacking of Sparty says it all:
Oh what a ride it has been. And what a way to finish it. Everyone, including this Nittany Lion team, came into this game knowing exactly what was at stake. Win, and with enough help you’re in the championship game. Lose, and a ton of momentum is gone. For the first ten minutes of the game, Penn State played like a team who didn’t know its future. The offense played tight, having negative yardage with less than five minutes left in the first quarter. The defense, while not as dreadful, still allowed to long Michigan State drives that led to field goals.
And then it happened. The crowd cheered. The news, what James Franklin tried so hard to keep away from his team, found a way to their sideline. Ohio State had won. All they had to do the rest of the way was beat the Spartans and the Big Ten East was theirs. Penn State took the ensuing possession after the news broke, and while it only came away with a field goal, it looked like a more cohesive offense. It looked like a team who knew everything was squarely in their hands. It looked like a team that, after all it had been through in the past few years, was ready to do the impossible.
An Epic Comeback Clinches An Improbable Big Ten Title
You all know the story, by now: Penn State dug itself into an early three-TD hole against Wisconsin, but then got its collective ish together as Trace McSorley went HAM on the Badgers secondary, throwing some ridiculous TD strikes to Saeed Blacknall (twice), as well as the memorable go-ahead wheel route TD to Saquon in the fourth quarter that had Gus Johnson climaxing on the FOX broadcast. The 38-31 win over the Badgers clinched what had been an improbable past couple of months that had Nittany Lion fans pinching themselves to make sure they weren’t dreaming. Trace McSorley was appropriately named our BSD MVP and Adam had 118 random thoughts that require reading in sequential order to help set the mood for what that weekend felt like back then.
“That’s Sports, Folks.”
Patrick took a fine look back a day after an epic Rose Bowl game for the ages that unfortunately ended in a 52-49 defeat for the Nittany Lions. The whole article is worth a read if you want a trip down memory lane of how you might have felt during each moment throughout the game, but it’s the paragraph with Pat’s final thoughts that deserve quoting, here:
This was a disappointing loss, there’s no way around it. Being up by two touchdowns going into the fourth quarter, and then not being able to make the plays to win, it flat out sucks. But it’s still important to remember that Penn State played a very good game. In losses, the mistakes are magnified, but the Nittany Lions played at an elite level on Monday night. Unfortunately, they just happened to be playing another great team that made one more play. That’s sports, folks.
Jared also did a lengthy post a few days later, in which he lamented about the heartbreak but also optimism about the bright future that laid ahead for the program. We all know by now how the James Franklin chapter in Penn State football history ultimately ended, but as we embark on a new chapter under Matt Campbell, it’s worth highlighting this paragraph from Jared’s post:
I’m sure in 20 years from now I’ll look up at the ‘2016’ on the side of Beaver Stadium, and smile as many fond memories come rushing back. But it’s not just memories that should leave us with a smile, but also a huge sense of optimism moving forward.
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