Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1430714
D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 19 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M FIVE YEARS AGO, 2016 Penn State specialized in comebacks during the 2016 season. Indeed, the sea- son itself was a comeback, as the Nittany Lions lost two of their first four games before surging to the Big Ten East Divi- sion title. So maybe it was no surprise that after falling behind Wisconsin by three touch- downs 25 minutes into the league cham- pionship game, the Lions countered with a breathtaking offensive barrage, out- scoring the Badgers 31-3 the rest of the way en route to a 38-31 victory. It certainly didn't surprise Mike Ge- sicki. The junior tight end said that after wide receiver Saeed Blacknall hauled in a 40-yard touchdown catch late in the second quarter to cut Wisconsin's lead to 28-14, the Lions could feel the mo- mentum swinging their way, just as it had in so many of their wins earlier in the season. "With the coaches that we have in this program, they've taught us never to put your head down, never to give up, trust in what we're doing," said Gesicki, who had scored the Lions' first touchdown of the night on a 33-yard pass from Trace McSorley. "I don't know if it's great for us, but we honestly do believe we're a second-half team. "We went into halftime like we were winning the game. We knew that we were going to come out in the second half and make some adjustments and then go out and play the way we did in the second half." Penn State started the third quarter just as it ended the second — with a long touchdown completion to Blacknall, this one covering 70 yards. PSU also got a pair of scores from Saquon Barkley later in the game. The Nittany Lions had hoped that the Big Ten championship would catapult them into the College Football Playoff. But when the field was announced on Dec. 4, one-loss Ohio State got the nod over two-loss Penn State, even though the Buckeyes' loss was to PSU. The Li- ons instead were invited to play in the Rose Bowl against USC, their first visit to Pasadena since facing the Trojans fol- lowing the 2008 regular season. 10 YEARS AGO, 2011 The Jerry Sandusky scandal had rocked Penn State in November, turn- ing the last few weeks of the Nittany Lions' regular season and the team's subsequent bowl invitation into after- thoughts. There had been speculation that the Lions might skip the postseason alto- gether despite finishing 9-3 and hold- ing the No. 24 ranking in the Associated Press poll. But they wanted to play, and in early December they accepted an in- vitation to meet Houston on Jan. 2 in the Ticket City Bowl in Dallas. The Cougars were ranked 20th and were led by senior quarterback Case Keenum, whose eye-popping numbers included a 72 percent completion rate and a 45-5 touchdown-interception ra- tio. Still, some Penn State players were disappointed with the matchup, which only came about after several Big Ten- aligned bowls bypassed PSU in favor of teams with worse records. "We feel a little disappointed we got passed up by some teams we beat in the Big Ten," safety Drew Astorino said. Those players didn't know it at the time, but it would be the Nittany Lions' last bowl game until 2014. 25 YEARS AGO, 1996 After completing an 10-2 regular sea- son with a 32-29 victory over Michi- gan State in late November, No. 7 Penn State accepted a bid to play 20th-ranked Texas in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day. It was to be the Nittany Lions' sixth visit to Tempe. They had won all five of those previous games, including a 14- 10 victory over Miami in January 1987 that secured the team's second national championship, and a 42-17 romp over Tennessee to end the 1991 season. Meanwhile, the Lady Lions basketball team cooled off in a hurry after rising to No. 9 in the Associated Press poll in mid-December. Penn State women's basketball fin- ished the month with consecutive losses to Alabama, Louisville, Wisconsin and Michigan State. It was the start of a skid that would eventually result in the team missing out on NCAAs for only the second time since the tournament was launched in 1982. — Matt Herb This Month in Penn State Athletics History Quarterback Trace McSorley threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns in Penn State's 38-31 victory over Wisconsin in the 2016 Big Ten Championship game. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL