Blue White Illustrated

January 2022

Penn State Sports Magazine

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J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 2 19 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M sixth trip to Tempe, and its sixth victory. (The Lions have since won a seventh.) The game was decided in the third quarter, which began with Kenny Watson returning the opening kickoff 81 yards to set up a quick touchdown that gave the Lions a 15-12 lead after a sluggish first half. The Longhorns re- sponded with a field goal that tied the score, but Penn State was just getting warmed up. The Lions scored two more touchdowns in the quarter to take con- trol of the game. The most electrifying play of the evening was a reverse by receiver Chafie Fields that went for 85 yards and set up a one-yard Anthony Cleary touchdown plunge. It was part of an offensive bar- rage in which the Lions nearly tripled Texas' output in the second half, out- gaining the Longhorns 330 yards to 118. "We went out and played our football game in the second half, caught the ball a little bit better, stayed on a couple of blocks," Paterno said. "Texas is a fine football team, and we were very privi- leged to play as well as we did in the sec- ond half. It was a great game for us." — Matt Herb JOE KRENTZMAN & SON, INC. • Buyers and Brokers of Steel, Iron and Nonferrous Metals • Industrial Scrap Buyers • Container Service Available • Large Service Territory Since 1903 Lewistown, PA • Hollidaysburg, PA • DuBois, PA (800) 543-2000 • www.krentzman.net F irst i n S cra p When Bill O'Brien stepped up the podium at the Nittany Lion Inn on Jan. 7, 2012, for his official intro- duction as Penn State's new head football coach, no one seemed more surprised than O'Brien himself. He had never been a head coach at the college or pro level, nor had his name come up in any of the speculation in which fans and media were engaged during the prior eight weeks. That the job should go to the New England Patriots' offensive coordinator after months of speculation about Al Golden, Mike Munchak and other boldface names who were supposedly mulling whether to succeed Joe Paterno was a stunning turn of events. O'Brien's first words underscored the surreal feel- ing that lingered in the air as the university officially ended its first real football head coaching search since 1950. Surveying a ballroom full of reporters and university dignitaries, O'Brien leaned into the microphone and said, "This is unbelievable." It was indeed. January 2012 was a month of con- vulsive, disorienting change at the university, and the hiring of O'Brien, a 19-year coaching veteran, was only the beginning of the upheaval. Six days after O'Brien held his introductory presser, the news broke that Joe Paterno had been admitted to Mount Nittany Medical Center. On Jan. 22, at 9:25 a.m., the Nittany Lions' longtime coach died at age 85. Paterno's lung cancer diagnosis had only become public after he had been ousted in November, and his decline was swift, leaving Penn State fans, many of whom had never known a world in which he wasn't in charge of the program, shocked and saddened. "He died as he lived," the Paterno family said in a statement. "He fought hard until the end, stayed pos- itive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambi- tions were far-reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them." The university had been reeling at the time, with the Jerry Sandusky scandal continuing to unfold and battle lines being drawn over what Paterno's legacy should be. That battle only intensified in the months that followed his passing. The statue around which mourners had gathered on the day he died was taken down in July 2012 and carted off by the Office of the Physical Plant, its whereabouts unknown to this day. As 2022 dawns, the university finds itself in a more stable place. Its head football coach, James Franklin, has just wrapped up his eighth season and recently signed a 10-year contract extension. Its athletics di- rector, Sandy Barbour, has been on the job nearly as long as Franklin. And while Penn State will soon have a new president, the appointment of Neeli Benda- pudi, formerly of Louisville, had none of the drama that accompanied the search for Rodney Erickson's successor back in the contentious days that followed the scandal and the subsequent NCAA sanctions. There's a lot to be said for stability. After the events of January 2012, no school knows that better than Penn State. — Matt Herb A Pivotal Month In Penn State History Penn State fans gathered at the Joe Paterno statue outside Beaver Stadium in January 2012 following reports that the coach had fallen ill. PHOTO BY PATRICK MANSELL

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