N O V E M B E R 2 4 , 2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M
3
fumble deep in Wisconsin territory was
overturned on replay.
As a team, the Lions have had ball-se-
curity issues all year long. They finished
the regular season having lost 12 fumbles,
the highest total in the Big Ten.
• One of the a=ernoon's few disap-
pointments was the dreary weather.
Franklin had spent the previous week
campaigning for a full house, but the
cold, wet conditions kept the attendance
down on senior day. The crowd was offi-
cially listed at 98,422, as Penn State
wrapped up a season that featured more
than its share of rain.
"This was a tough year weatherwise for
us, I think it was a record amount of pre-
cipitation," Franklin said. "There are a lot
of issues with that – parking and every-
thing else. So to the fans who came out
and supported us in some tough weather
conditions, especially tonight, I can't tell
you how much we appreciated it. Our at-
tendance was unbelievable, all things
considered, and a huge home-field ad-
vantage."
LOOKING AHEAD
So now they wait. The Nittany Lions
won't find out their postseason destina-
tion until a=er next weekend's confer-
ence championship games, but this much
is all but certain: It will be somewhere
warmer and drier than Beaver Stadium
was on the last day of the regular season.
It won't be the bowl they wanted at the
beginning of the season when they were
eyeing berths in the Big Ten Champi-
onship Game and College Football Play-
off. But this will be the fi=h season in a
row in which the Nittany Lions have
achieved
postseason eligibility, no small
accomplishment for a program that was
still deep in rebuilding mode when
Franklin arrived in 2014.
"I couldn't be more proud of the staff,
the players, the coaches, everybody," the
coach said. "We'll take a little time off
right now. We've got a bunch of meetings
[on Sunday], then the coaches will get on
the road recruiting, and then we'll get
into bowl week. … Wherever they tell us
we're going, we'll be very appreciative of
the opportunity and enjoy ourselves and
try to go 1-0. You think about this three-
year run, and I know this season, there
have been some ups and downs and some
challenges, but this has been one of the
best three-year stretches in the pro-
gram's history when you talk about the
Big Ten era. So we've got a chance to do
some special things by winning a bowl
game, and I couldn't be more proud of
our guys."
A NEW WAY
TO ACCESS
POSTGAME
COVERAGE
Starting this season, Blue White Il-
lustrated's postgame coverage will
be available via bwi.rivals.com. All
of our game stories, including the
story above on Saturday's victory
over Maryland, can now be accessed
from the website.
The change in format allows us to
bring readers more gameday cover-
age than ever before: game recaps,
player features, notebooks, high-
lights and lowlights, game grades
and recruiting news. To find BWI's
postgame coverage, visit the links
below:
HIGHLIGHTS AND LOWLIGHTS
GAME GRADES
FEATURE STORIES
STATISTICS
Gross-Matos
continued his
outstanding
sohomore sea-
son, finishing
with 3.5 tack-
les for loss
against Mary-
land.
Photo by
Steve Manuel
