Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1488968
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 3 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, 2018 The Penn State men's basketball team was coming off losses to Minnesota and Northwestern when it traveled to Co- lumbus to take on 13th-ranked Ohio State on Jan. 25. A road game against a nationally ranked foe might not seem like the ideal spot in which to turn one's season around, but with time about to expire, guard Tony Carr launched a shot from near midcourt and watched it bank off the glass into the net, giving the Lions a shocking 82-79 victory. "I give Tony credit for not calling the timeout that I wanted to call," coach Patrick Chambers joked afterward. "Sometimes those non-calls are abso- lutely fantastic." Carr's heave left the crowd of 13,464 at Value City Arena stunned, but maybe it shouldn't have. The Lions hit 11 of their 14 attempts from three-point range, including 5 of 5 in the second half. In games with at least 10 attempts, the team had its best three-point shoot- ing performance ever, topping a 13-of- 17 showing against Iowa in 1996. It also helped Penn State roll into February with some momentum; the Lions went on to win five of their next six contests. 10 YEARS AGO, 2013 At an impromptu news conference Jan. 7 at Beaver Stadium, coach Bill O'Brien acknowledged that numerous teams had inquired about his availabil- ity following the end of the NFL's regu- lar season in late December. O'Brien had been on the job full-time for less than a year, but he had led the Nittany Lions to a surprising 8-4 finish (6-2 Big Ten) just a few months after the NCAA had levied a range of seem- ingly devastating sanctions against the program. Those results had piqued the interest of several of the seven teams with head coaching vacancies. O'Brien, who had come to Penn State the previous January after five seasons as an assistant with the New England Patriots, said he regarded the NFL as "the highest level of coaching." Yet, he rebuffed those inquiries and opted to stay at Penn State. "At the end of the day, the most im- portant thing is the decision that I made," he said. "I made the decision to be here at Penn State, just like I made that decision a year ago, and I can't think of a better place to be. "This is a top-10 football program. This is one of the best academic institu- tions in the country, in the world, and I am very, very proud to be the head foot- ball coach here. Very proud." 25 YEARS AGO, 1998 Penn State was without two key offen- sive players in the Citrus Bowl, and their absence on New Year's Day was glar- ing. Facing Florida for the first time since 1962, the Nittany Lions managed just 2 Travis Forney field goals in 21-6 loss. Tailback Curtis Enis and receiver Joe Jurevicius both sat out the game — Enis because he had broken NCAA rules by accepting gifts from an agent, Jurevicius because of academic problems. Without two of its most dynamic offensive play- ers, Penn State totaled just 139 yards and came up short on two critical fourth- and-goal situations in the second quar- ter. Florida, meanwhile, allowed Fred Tay- lor to pound away at a suspect Penn State defensive front. Taylor carried 43 times and finished with 234 yards, the second- best rushing performance ever by a Ga- tors running back. The Lions' performance in Orlando brought a lackluster end to a season that had begun with sky-high expectations. They had been ranked No. 1 in the As- sociated Press poll to open the campaign but were routed in two of their last four regular-season games and then were stunned by the loss of Enis in December. After falling to Florida, players found themselves reflecting on how far the team had strayed from its preseason goals. "I thought we'd be in Pasadena," line- backer Brandon Short said, "but it didn't work out." — Matt Herb This Month in Penn State Athletics History Tony Carr enjoyed one of the best games of his college career when Penn State visited No. 13 Ohio State in January 2018. Carr scored 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including the winning shot as time expired. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL