Before 2011, Penn State football was seen by the rest of the country as the class of college football. They had a long and rich history of great tradition matched by only few programs, and head coach Joe Paterno was in a class of his own. The only head coach in college football history who was treated with a more God-like status than Paterno was the great Bear Bryant from Alabama. The prestige of that program was so sacred that the only way it could be tainted was a scandal so unforgivable, the legacy Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions would be destroyed. And that is exactly what happened…

In 2011 everyone, even people who didn’t care about college football, found out the shocking and disturbing events which transpired in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Former Penn State defensive coach Jerry Sandusky had been accused and convicted of molesting and sexually abusing young boys in team facilities, for which he will be incarcerated for the rest of his life. While Paterno was not directly involved with the abuse, several legitimate sources claimed he was aware of what was going on but failed to report it. The acts had been covered up for about a decade before several victims turned up to tell the truth, and people would never look at Penn State the same ever again. Whatever Paterno knew and didn’t was lost forever when he died only two months after being fired in wake of the scandal.

I attended Penn State branch campuses Altoona and Brandywine as a student, but did not carry the same pride and passion for the football program as many students had. Besides believing that commuting was the best option for my success at college, another reason why I did not attend Penn State main campus was because of that heinous scandal and the aftermath. Looking at the atmosphere while attending Penn State home games at Happy Valley, I saw thousands of fans trying to take back a pride in their team which had been exposed and flayed. They had nothing to grasp onto anymore as all of the success and accomplishments of the previous fifty years under Paterno had a black mark on it. Many were keen on trying to restore Paterno’s legacy by advocating his 111 vacated wins to be restored, a demand they ultimately got. Even as the penalties and sanctions the school received (which were considerably light based on the circumstances, as the NCCA death penalty was a valid option) it seemed obvious that Penn State football would not have much cheer about for a long time.

Another indication that I believed Penn State football was going to disappear for a while was their opening contest of last season versus the Temple Owls at Lincoln Financial Field. As a Brandywine student, I attended the game and wrote an article for the Penn State Brandywine newspaper, The Lion’s Eye. Below is a link to that article.

http://psulionseye.com/ambush-at-the-linc/

Penn State had not lost to Temple since 1941 and were heavy favorites, coming off a win against Boston College in the previous season’s Pinstripe Bowl. Penn State may have had the sanctions looming, but were still considered one of Pennsylvania’s top college football teams, but Temple humbled them that day. Quarterback Christian Hackenburg was sacked ten times in a 27-10 blowout loss to the Owls where they were completely outplayed and overmatched against a program they owned for over seventy years. That game convinced me (and probably a lot of students, whether they wanted to admit it or not) that Penn State would be irrelevant in the Big Ten and National title spotlight for a long, long time.

The beginning of this season was no different, as they started out 2-2 (which is considered a terrible record for a major college football program, case-in-point LSU in firing Les Miles) with a blowout loss to arch rival Michigan and a close shootout loss to Pittsburgh. The rumors were beginning to spread that head coach James Franklin, who in his third season and had not done enough to make the program respectable again, was going to be fired with seven years left on his ten year deal. The team’s Russian winter looked like it was going to continue, but then Ohio State happened.

The Ohio State Buckeyes might not have had the major stars that dominated Penn State in the previous two seasons like Ezeikel Elliot and Joey Bosa, but they were still ranked number two in the country and considered the class of the Big Ten. Regardless of being played in Happy Valley, the Buckeyes were supposed to win, and it seemed like that going into the fourth quarter with a 21-7 lead. All of the sudden, some clutch plays and good luck had Penn State score 17 unanswered points, culminating in an epic blocked field goal attempt which was ran back for a touchdown and put the Nittany Lions in the lead. While some critics called it a fluky upset, Penn State football had a boost of energy not seen since the Paterno era.

The Ohio State win was the beginning of the turnaround for Penn State as they steamrolled to an eight game winning streak and reached the top ten in national rankings. As the seventh best team in the country, they earned a spot into the Big Ten Championship game against sixth ranked Wisconsin in Indianapolis. Like the Ohio State game, they trailed early as Wisconsin jumped out onto a 28-7 lead in the second quarter. It looked like the fun ride of this season was about to end, but then they followed the theme of this year: Forget the first half and own the second half, which is exactly what they did. In the last thirty-one minutes of play the Nittany Lions outscored the Badgers 31-3 and overwhelmed their opponents with a 38-31 victory. Quarterback Trace McSorley turned into McSorley the Mad Bomber as he unloaded the ball for 384 passing yards and four touchdowns. All of the receivers caught every ball that was thrown to them no matter how deep (as an Eagles fan I gasped when realizing that was possible!) And the defense that had been dominated in the first half stepped up and stopped Wisconsin on 4th down and 1 with a minute to go, sealing the win. Head coach James Franklin couldn’t hide his enthusiasm knowing that everything was working out in his team’s way for once.

Just over two months after a 49-10 blowout lost to Michigan, Penn State were the undisputed Big Ten champions for the first time since 1994. They would finish as the fifth best team in the country as their early two losses ultimately kept them out of the College football playoff, (where they probably would have lost to Alabama if they made it anyway) and now have a date with the USC Trojans on the second of January for the 2017 Rose Bowl. Regardless of whether you think they were deserving of making the playoff, the most important thing about this season is that for the first time in what feels like ages, Penn State has a football team to be proud of. At this rate the Nittany Lions will continue to compete at a high level and will likely be favored to make the playoff next year and be in the hunt for years to come. While the legacy Penn State once held may never be fully restored in the aftermath of the Sandusky Scandal, it’s great to look forward and have a new program with model players and coaches we can admire.