Blue White Illustrated

THE LATE SHOW PSU endured some disappointing finishes in 2020, but thanks to a surge in the final month of its campaign, it headed into the off-season feeling upbeat ith 2020 now in the rear view, we've picked the five mo- ments that defined Penn State's recently concluded football sea- son. The season started with a historically abysmal 0-5 start, a stretch of games plagued by personnel absences, turnovers and ineffectiveness in all three phases. Yet the Nittany Lions composed them- selves and rallied to string together four victories to end the campaign. After the last of those wins, a 56-21 romp over Illi- nois in a Champions Week matchup Dec. 19 at Beaver Stadium, Penn State opted to sit out the postseason. So, with no bowl game to recount in these pages, let's look back on the year that was: MOMENT NO. 5 ILLINOIS @ PENN STATE DEC. 19 The highlight of the Nittany Lions' sea- son was undoubtedly the performance of Jahan Dotson. The junior wide receiver capped his breakout year by putting on a show in the first half of Penn State's win against the Illini. Dotson scored on the first offensive play of the evening, baiting his Illini defender into slipping on the turf, easily hauling in Sean Clifford's on-target pass and zip- ping 75 yards into the end zone to give Penn State a 7-0 lead just 12 seconds into the action. And he was only getting started. Although the Lions found themselves unexpectedly tied with the Illini, 21-21, at the end of the first quarter, Dotson's 50- yard punt return on the first play of the second quarter re-established the tone Penn State would use to dictate the rest of the game. Setting up Caziah Holmes' two carries into the end zone to take a 28-21 lead, the Nittany Lions forced a quick four-and-out by the Illini, drove 91 yards on 15 plays on their next possession to take a 35-21 advantage, and effectively slammed the door by forcing another three-and-out. Dotson totaled 189 yards and two scores on six receptions in the season's final game, averaging 31.5 yards per catch. It was the fifth time in nine games that he topped the 100-yard threshold, and the performance raised his total for the sea- son to 884 yards. He finished the year ranked third in the Big Ten in receiving yards per game at 98.2, sixth in recep- tions per game at 5.8, fourth in average yards per catch at 17.0, first in total yards and total touchdowns (eight), and third in total receptions (52). Dotson would go on to claim third-team All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and media, and in early January he an- nounced that he plans to return to Penn State in 2021. He could have had one more showcase game in 2020, but in the imme- diate aftermath of the Illinois game, the Nittany Lions voted against accepting a bowl invitation. "I couldn't be more proud and encour- aged by how our team conducted itself during this unprecedented season," head coach James Franklin said. "One of our four core values is a willingness to sacri- fice, and our student-athletes, coaches and staff have all made incredible sacri- fices both on and off the field in order for us to compete this year." And that, maybe as much as any other moment on our list, seemed to encapsu- late the feelings that this season evoked. Disappointed that their optimistic expec- tations went wholly unrealized in the first month of games, the Lions scratched and clawed and ultimately rallied. MOMENT NO. 4 PENN STATE @ MICHIGAN NOV. 28 Penn State's performance in the Big House from the 12:30 mark of the fourth quarter until its fourth-down stop of the Wolverines with 5 minutes, 40 seconds left to play, certainly suits our purposes as one of the defining stretches of the Nit- tany Lions' season. It wasn't a single moment but rather a handful of moments that reversed the team's trend of coming up short when game-changing plays were required. And Franklin, recognizing that particular un- defined quality that had eluded his group all season to that point, explained it as such once the Lions had completed their gritty 27-17 win. "One of the things that I've been proud of over six years is that we've won all dif- ferent ways. We've won pretty, we've won ugly, we've made comebacks, we've won by a bunch of points, and we hadn't done that this year," Franklin said. "To see some young guys who were forced into signifi- cant roles figure it out today and make plays and do some of the dirty work and play winning football, it was great to see." Specifically, he was referencing the quality contributions of true freshmen Keyvone Lee, filling in for an absent Devyn Ford at running back, and Parker Washington. | W >>

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