Blue White Illustrated

football story, the program's rise from the state of ruination in which many outsiders thought it might be trapped for years following the NCAA sanctions, to the top of the Big Ten, "is not talked about enough." "It's interesting," the coach said. "As we went out and did some trips [last] summer, went and visited some people, and even with our own people, you kind of sit down and you say, bullet point one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, of what we've been able to do in the past six years and what we've been able to do specifically in the past three years, people were like, 'I wouldn't have known that, if you didn't tell me.' "So we probably could do a little bit better job of that. We've got a pretty amazing story that we should be very proud of." That sort of big-picture thinking doesn't come naturally in the midst of a season. At times, Franklin actively dis- courages it, publicly imploring players, and by extension the broader Penn State fan community, to focus exclusively on the team's upcoming opponent. But even when one zooms out a bit, the results on the field the past few years have turned the team's struggles in the first half of the decade into increasingly hazy memories. There's no nostalgia as- sociated with that period in Penn State history, so we rarely look back on it. And when we do, we tend to regard it as part of an ever-receding past that has less and less relevance to the program's com- petitive outlook going forward. But it is relevant in that it shows just how far PSU has come under the leadership of Franklin and his staff. These days, there's at least a glimmer of hope going into every season that the Big Ten title and College Football Playoff are within reach. That was the case this year, even though the two-deep was filled with inexperi- enced players, particularly on offense. The Lions came reasonably close to mak- ing good on those hopes, going 10-2, with both of their losses coming against highly ranked teams. That would be a good showing by just about any program. For a program that had seemingly been vaporized by the NCAA earlier in the decade, it's borderline miraculous. And yet, when it comes to external ex- pectations, the Lions find themselves in an awkward spot. They are good enough to compete against the Big Ten's best program; the 13-point differential that has separated them from Ohio State the past three years is 50 points better than Michigan's combined losing margin vs. the Buckeyes over that same span. But being good enough to compete means they are also good enough to leave their followers feeling deeply disappointed when those preseason title hopes go un- realized. And lately, it's seemed at times as though the disappointment following the losses has overshadowed the excite- ment that the victories have generated. One of the more alarming stories to emerge from Penn State's recently con- cluded regular season was the revelation that Sean Clifford had received death threats after Penn State lost to Min- nesota in November. Think about that for a moment. More than one person, motivated by rage or alcohol or who knows what, felt like it was a good idea to threaten a 21-year-old college student just because he threw some intercep- dium. So I've got some familiarity and have watched them on TV. From what I've seen, they're a very, very athletic team. They're a very confident team. And they're used to winning and have been doing it now for a number of years. I know they're going to come into this game expecting to do the same thing. So it's going to be a tremendous chal- lenge. And we're looking forward to the opportunity." DID YOU KNOW? The Cotton Bowl Classic has been played at only two sta- diums during its 84-year history: Cotton Bowl Stadium at the Texas State Fair Grounds and AT&T Stadium (formerly Cowboys Stadium) in nearby Arlington. Mississippi won the last game played at the bowl's original location, defeating Texas Tech, 47-34, on Jan. 2, 2009. The Rebels also won the first game at the bowl's new location, beating Oklahoma State, 21-7, at Cowboys Stadium on Jan. 2, 2010. ■ RAISING THE ROOF The largest domed sta- dium in the world, AT&T Stadium has been home to the Cot- ton Bowl since 2010. C O T T O N B O W L P R E V I E W

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