RESILIENT PENN STATE RIDES HIGH IN BIG TEN
Injury-depleted team streaks into Top 10
Quarterback Trace McSorley, right, and Penn State are on a six-game winning streak and eyeing a possible Big Ten title game berth.
BLOOMINGTON, IND. The Penn State Nittany Lions certainly aren’t one of the best four teams in the country when it comes to talent, depth and experience. In some ways, they’re not even close. Have you heard what’s become of their offensive line?
There are so many reasons to not believe they are for real in the nation’s Top 10, that they are some anomaly, some situational pretender that has sneaked its way to where it doesn’t belong.
But here’s the deal: All of their continuing adversity and malfunctions — and overcoming it any way possible — actually makes them stronger than anyone else.
Penn State would not be 8-2 and still in Big Ten and national title talk without a new struggle to deal with every week.
They are more formidable than what their appearance shows. Their reach goes beyond their work. None of that should diminish what has been accomplished.
Or, more important, what comes next.
Worrying about how they found a way to rally again to beat the afterthought Indiana Hoosiers 45-31 on Saturday? Tell that to Clemson, Washington or Michigan, to Auburn and Texas A&M.
They all should have won their games last weekend, if you believe in rankings and numbers. None of them survived.
Consider what the Lions did with only one offensive lineman playing in his natural position (thanks to an injury meltdown). That’s unfathomable. They are basically blocking with a senior center and four guards. Three backup guards.
And with the stakes now so suddenly high, they might burn the red shirt of promising freshman tackle Will Fries with only a few games to play — which seems like the right move, if he’s willing.
No one else must deal with anything remotely similar while chasing titles. They’ve already recovered from losing all of their starting linebackers to rip off a six-game winning streak in the toughest conference in America.
So don’t count them out just yet on the offensive line.
How they keep overcoming, of course, goes back to coaching, team leadership and toughness, like that of undersized quarterback Trace McSorley (6-0, 205).
But it’s also about this: Few teams, if any, own a sophomore tailback with Heisman Trophy talent who was more than willing to run 33 times for a mere 58 yards — and become the ultimate leader and inspiration in the process.
Saquon Barkley’s day at Indiana was just as important as any 200-yard rushing performance.
The Hoosiers tackled him at least a dozen times behind scrimmage. But he would not be defeated. He was the one who carried a pile of tacklers to the Indiana goal late in that comeback victory, legs defiantly churning.
“It was just another test,” he said after the game. “At the end of the day, you won the game. I don’t get caught up in stats, I don’t care how many yards I have, I just want to win. It was another test to see how I am as a person, see how I am as a player.”
These Lions feed off of that attitude and have fed off of it ever since training camp, when no one on the outside could possibly see it. September’s excruciating 42-39 loss at Pittsburgh and 49-10 demolition at Michigan would have buried others.
Think about it again: The Lions are better because of everything wrong they’ve been forced to fix.
They’re doing it so very differently from the respected Penn State teams of the past 25 years. The magical 1994 run that ended at 12-0 with a Rose Bowl win displayed mental steel at key moments, but they never endured anything like this. The 2001 team recovered beyond belief from a 0-4 start but still short-circuited with plenty on the table. The 2005 team (11-1 and an Orange Bowl win) was a brilliant mix of dynamic leaders and youth who grew, too, as the season pro- gressed. But could they have done that while missing Paul Posluszny and three-fourths of their offensive line for half of it?
Now, these Lions must beat only awful Rutgers on the road and dysfunctional Michigan State at home to have a real shot at the Big Ten title game. And then a big bowl. Maybe even the College Football Playoffs, if you can possibly imagine.
Are they truly good enough to warrant such a reward? They have no All-American on defense. No star quarterback. They don’t even know who will block for them this weekend. You could go on and on.
That’s not really the point anymore. Good is only what you make of it in the end.
Rather, there isn’t another team in the nation more deserving of whatever good fortunate comes its way.
And that has to mean more than enough.
Bodani writes for the York (Pa.) Daily Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. For Penn State-Rutgers and other Big Ten previews, go to Page 32.