Loss leaves Penn State with deflated feeling
PASADENA, CALIF. The stunned Penn State Nittany Lions walked methodically off the field as fireworks and confetti exploded around them and the hometown fans rocked the Rose Bowl perhaps like never before.
Coach James Franklin followed his players, stopping when he found his two daughters on the sideline grass. He bent down and hugged them and carried his youngest toward the locker room.
Giving up a two-touchdown lead and losing on the game’s final play was a crushing end for a team that had accomplished so much in a season of recovery like no other.
In a sense, it was Penn State’s offense that was most responsible for not protecting it all at the end. The Nittany Lions punted the ball too quickly a couple of times, just missed a golden chance to seal it and threw a dagger of an interception that set up the winning points in the highest-scoring Rose Bowl in history, a 52-49 win by Southern California.
The Nittany Lions (11-3) walked into a losing locker room for the first time since September, with their next chance at redemption eight months away.
Tears rolled down the face of defensive back and special-teams standout Nick Scott as he quietly walked under a row of taunting USC fans.
A bit later, senior Jordan Smith, another defensive back, sat at his locker for nearly 30 minutes still wearing his full uniform. He answered questions with his helmet on.
Mostly, the players sat quietly in front of their lockers, staring at their phones or at nothing really at all as the feelings began settling in. They stood up to hug one an- other and offer condolences from time to time, in a farewell of sorts.
Smith seemed to take it among the hardest, saying he felt responsible for the defeat because he was flagged late for pass interference. Of course, his teammates and coaches know better in a game featuring more than 1,000 yards of offense and one dramatic shift of momentum constantly cascading into another.
“I just want to do so much for this team, help this team in any way,” Smith said in soft tones as he sat alone. “And that flag came at a crucial moment. If I could go back and change the play I would.
“It sucks that me and a few others have to part ways. Look out for this team next year because they are going to do more special things.”
Franklin, meanwhile, tried to put perspective on the defeat that kept the Nittany Lions from their first 12-win season in 22 years and maybe their first top-five poll finish in more than a decade.
“It’s amazing, went in the locker room and coaches are coming up to me and saying sorry,” Franklin said. “I’m like, ‘Sorry? For what? What are you sorry for?’ I mean, shoot, we’re all in this together. The coaches, the players, no one person’s role is more significant than the other’s. That was a team loss today.
“But that really, that game real- ly doesn’t define us. It’s the whole season. It’s what these guys did. It’s how they persevered. It’s how they love one another. It’s how they care for one another.
“I couldn’t be more proud. I know this probably sounds crazy, but I wouldn’t be any more proud sitting here tonight with a win. I couldn’t be any more proud of our guys.”
The defeat washed away some of the gleam from two of the most astounding Rose Bowl performances in history — sophomore Saquon Barkley’s 194 rushing yards on 25 carries and junior Chris Godwin’s nine catches for 187 yards and two highlight-reel touchdowns.
Consider that sophomore quarterback Trace McSorley, while being pressured and on the run, just missed connecting with wide-open Godwin on a deep throw early in the fourth quarter that probably would have sealed the outcome.
McSorley threw three interceptions — two on his first two passes, the third on his last. The Trojans turned the ball over once.
“It was the first time I ever cried after a loss in college,” senior safety Malik Golden said.
“The reason why this one hurts, to me, the most is what these seniors have done for this program,” Barkley said. “Coach Franklin and the seniors did a really good job of keeping this program alive, and I just wanted to send them off ... on the right note.”
Most, though, will have the chance to make amends for this loss next season. The Nittany Lions are one of the nation’s youngest teams.
“Let this feeling sit in the back of our minds,” junior safety Marcus Allen said, “and never let it happen again.”