Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1332070
GROUP PROJECT Penn State will look to build on its late-year momentum as it heads into a 2021 off-season that may (or may not) look a little bit more familiar fter a season like no other, Penn State is hoping for an off-season that looks a whole lot more typ- ical. But whether the Nittany Lions will get to experience that sense of comfort- ing familiarity is an open question. The Lions' 2020 campaign didn't re- semble anything that had come before, and the protective measures that were put in place to keep players and staff safe amid the ongoing pandemic were only part of the reason why everything seemed so unusual. As unorthodox as the practices and meetings were, the team's on-field performances were also at odds with everything in PSU's recent past. The Lions, who had won 11 games in three of their previous four seasons, lost their first five amid a flurry of turnovers, late- game snafus and defensive lapses, be- coming the first team in the school's 134-year football history to start 0-5. Even when they finally ended their skid, they did so in a most unexpected way – by winning at Michigan. The Nittany Lions defeated the Wolverines, 27-17, prevailing in the Big House for the first time since 2009 behind 134 rushing yards from freshman running back Keyvone Lee. After the team's course correction in Ann Arbor, the season followed a more familiar trajectory. The Lions kept win- ning, stringing together victories over Rutgers, Michigan State and Illinois be- fore opting to end their campaign with that 56-21 Champions Week triumph over the Illini rather than extend it by ac- cepting a bowl invitation. Except for the first of those wins, none came as much of a surprise. In fact, even if you include Michigan, the Lions beat four losing teams to close out their season. The Wolverines, Scarlet Knights, Spartans and Illini went a combined 9-21 in 2020. None of them came close to finishing above .500. But a win streak is a win streak. And if you buy the idea that momentum carries over from one season to the next, then the Nit- tany Lions ought to feel a little bit better about how things are shaping up than they did a couple of months ago. In some key re- spects, the off-sea- son is going to feel strange, no matter how badly everyone wants to get back to business as usual. The NCAA has approved a one-year transfer waiver, allowing athletes to leave without having to sit out a season at their new school. That decision has already led to a nation- wide flood of entries into the transfer portal, and as of mid-January, Penn State coach James Franklin had taken advan- tage of the opportunity to fill holes on his roster, bringing in a pair of defensive linemen, a cornerback and a running back. He had also lost a two-year starter, as | A >>