Silver linings for Lions
Players wanted more than 10-2 but had ample satisfaction in 2023
One of the things that makes the Penn State fan base notable, outside of packing Beaver Stadium with 100,000-plus for every Saturday home game, is the passion it exhibits and the standard to which it holds its team.
After another 10-2 season with losses to Ohio State and Michigan, that fan base has been sure to express its frustration with a team that had loftier expectations than just a repeat of last season.
But how are the players and coaches reflecting on 2023?
“It wasn’t our ultimate goal, for sure,” said sophomore quarterback Drew Allarahead of Saturday’s Peach Bowl against Mississippi. “There’s things I want to have back throughout the year, but that’s what goes into next year and this game. We put in countless hours of work in the dark on our own and as a team since January, so when we don’t get the resultswe want, it hurts.”
Looking back on the year as a whole for Allar, a firstyear starter and former fivestar talent, it’s easy to recognize some of those moments thathe’d like to have back.
In the losses to Ohio State and Michigan, Allar and the Penn State offense had 10 second-half drives with the chance to either tie the game ortake the lead.
Theymoved the ball just 80 yards on those possessions with seven punts, two turnovers on downs and a costly fumble by Allar that flipped the momentum in the loss to theWolverines.
So it makes sense that Allarwants to have some things back.
But he also boasted the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the country (23:1), ranked second in the Big Ten in points responsible for and had numerous flashes of the elite talent that madehim the highest-ranked quarterback recruit in the school’s history.
Learning from the bad but still appreciating the good should be the message surrounding this group of NittanyLions.
“When you look around, there’s not a lot of teams who can say they’ve won 10 games in the last two years and gone tothe bowl games we have, so I know as a team we’re appreciative and we know we can keep getting better,” senior tight end Tyler Warren said. “But we’re certainly not disappointed.”
“We expect more of ourselves. But you can see winning in college football is difficult week in and week out,” senior offensive lineman Olu Fashanu said. “Anything is possible in college football. So to go 10-2 is difficult but it’s still not our standard. We expectmore of ourselves.”
That expectation will only continue with the historic 2022 recruiting class gaining another year -—and another 10 wins — of experience as it didthis season.
Allar, Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen, Dani Dennis-Sutton, Abdul Carter and Zane Durant headline the sensational group of sophomores who will be back for more as the CFP expands to 12 teams in 2024.
They’re coming for it all nextyear.
“My first year, I was blessed to get a 10-win season, so I was expecting to go to a national championship [this year]. But they told me how hard it is,” sophomore defensive tackle Zane Durant said. “We’re looking to take that nextstep next year.”
It’seasy to look at any bowl game outside of the CFP and minimize its importance, especially when so many players opt out or transfer before the game is even played. That cannotbe said of Penn State.
For more reasons than one, the Peach Bowl means something. To some, it meanseverything.
Chop Robinson, who dealt with injuries most of the season and is justifiably protecting himself as a potential top10 pick in the draft, could be the only player the Nittany Lions are missing when they takeon the Rebels.
Captains Adisa Isaac and Theo Johnson have already committed to playing in the game, while projected topfive pick and fellow captain Fashanu will travel but is still yet to decide on his availability.
This commitment exemplifies the culture of loyalty head coach James Franklin has instilled.
“There’s a ton of value in finishing what you started, and there’s a lot of ways to do that,” Franklin said. “We’re very aware of what’s going on in college football and someof the trends.”
Franklin went on to add that being able to play in a bowl as charitable as the Peach Bowl is important not just for his team and program, but for his school that aims to embody the same core values as the game’s sponsor, Chick-fil-A.
“The game of football and what we do here at Penn State, although I clearly understand it’s about the wins and the records, is a place that says the game of football transcends even more than that,” Franklin said. “To be able to play in a bowl that is within our core values ... I think that’s really cool.”
For Alex Felkins, a Columbia transfer who has never been able to play in a postseason game due to the Ivy League’s rule prohibiting it, any bowl game is a dream cometrue.
“First of all, it’s awesome to play a team like Ole Miss for my last game in a stadium (Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium) like that. I’ve always dreamed of playing in a bowl game like this,” Felkins said. “I know 10-2 wasn’t what we wanted, but playing in a New Year’s Six game is still pretty cool. I’m excited to finish my career on a high note.”
Hunter Nourzad, another Ivy League transfer from Cornell last season, played in his first career bowl game at theRose Bowl last season.
“The games themselves are really fun. When it comes to football, it’s important for the team to finish on a strong note to propel them into next season,” Nourzad said. “We can be the first team in college football to win all the New Year’s Six games, so that’s really cool.”
If you’re a college football fan frustrated by the landscape of the sport and the seemingly unimportant postseason games or a Penn State fan frustrated by another 10-2 season, just look to the players and how much it means tothem.
There are still players and coaches who love the game as theplayers of the past used to. You just have to look for themand listen to them.
Look at how the chance to do something no other school has ever done motivates them.
Look at how one more chance, perhaps the last chance, to play the game they lovemotivates them.
Look at how frustrated they are, even when they accomplish something not many teams are able to do, and how that motivates them.
“It’s definitely frustrating because people don’t realize the season doesn’t start in August. It starts in January, as soon as the clock ticks zero on the last bowl game,” junior linebacker Curtis Jacobs said. “When you put that much into it, it means more. It’s not the result we wanted, but it’s definitely a big accomplishment and we should be proud of that.”
Added Nourzad: “I think it’s important to realize the players and staff still put in a lotof work.
“It’s not like the season is a wash.”