Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1509432
N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3 2 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M ing to watch not just your next opponent. You might watch the next two or three opponents to try to get a feel for what's going on in the league." Diaz presumably saw some pretty good college football. Heading into Week 7, Penn State's final six opponents had assembled a combined record of 24-9. That included a 10-1 combined record by its next two conference opponents. Ohio State was unbeaten, as expected, while Maryland was off to its best start since 2001, with its only loss coming to the Buckeyes at the Horseshoe. If Penn State were to survive the com- ing gauntlet unscathed, it would have resume-boosting wins over two likely top-five opponents and might not even need a victory in the Big Ten Champion- ship Game to get into the playoff. TCU did just that last year, having built enough credibility in the regular season to survive a 31-28 loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 title game. Still, Penn State hasn't put together an unbeaten regular season since 1994, and it hasn't defeated Michigan and Ohio State in the same season since 2008. Con- versely, it has lost to both Michigan and Ohio State in 11 of its 30 prior seasons of Big Ten membership. That history doesn't bode well. If anything, it makes a case for the value of consolation prizes. A year ago, Penn State didn't lose its focus after dropping games to its two toughest rivals. Instead, it regrouped and won its final four regu- lar-season games, earning a spot in the Rose Bowl, where it beat Utah handily and started building buzz for the current campaign. A split against the Buckeyes and Wol- verines might be enough for Penn State to earn a spot in the CFP field. Ohio State got in last year even after closing the regu- lar season with a lopsided home loss to Michigan. But the selection committee was looking at a group of flawed contend- ers when it pulled the Buckeyes' resume out of the stack. That might not be the case this year with the Pac-12 resurgent and Florida State and Oklahoma building momentum. So, for Penn State, it all comes back to the questions to which Franklin alluded during the bye week: Can the Nittany Li- ons capitalize now that one of those rare opportunities has arisen? Can they make the improvements they need to make without losing a game or two (or three) in the process? All will be revealed in the weeks ahead. For now, there's reason to be hopeful, but also to be wary. "We work really hard to improve with- out having to have a major setback to do it," Franklin said. "Sometimes people need a setback and they feel like that was good for them for the rest of the sea- son. It's really hard to do that [and still compete for championships] in college football." ■ Although Penn State's tenure as a football-playing member of the Big Ten Conference dates back only to 1993, the Nittany Lions have been facing the league's other members since the earliest days of the sport. Penn State's first meeting against one of its future conference rivals took place on Nov. 16, 1912, when it shut out Ohio State 37-0 in front of 3,500 fans at Ohio Field, the precursor to the Horseshoe. That same year, Ohio State joined the Western Conference, which would later become the Big Ten. Over the next eight seasons, the Lions would also establish series against Michigan State, Mary- land and Rutgers. While Ohio State was an early opponent, PSU didn't face the Big Ten's other perennial power, Michigan, until 1993. And if longtime Wolverines coach Bo Schembechler had gotten his way, it might have taken even longer. Schembechler was Michigan's football coach and athletics director when Penn State's entry into the league was announced in 1989. He was blindsided by the decision, which had been made at the presidential level. "Penn State coming into the league was a shock to all of us," Schembechler told reporters in Los Angeles while preparing his team for its matchup against USC in the 1990 Rose Bowl. "It kind of tells you of the prestige and position of athletic directors." He added that there may be "sound and good reasons to have Penn State in the league, but I don't think it was very well thought out. I think it was a buddy system, and that's how it happened." Three decades later, Penn State has built up a wealth of shared history with its Big Ten rivals. Here's a look at how the Lions have fared historically against this year's final six opponents. — Matt Herb The Long And Short Of Penn State's Big Ten Rivalries Penn State stunned second-ranked Ohio State 24-21 in 2016 when cornerback Grant Haley returned a blocked field goal 60 yards for the winning touchdown. But the Buckeyes have won the past six games in the series. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL Opponent Series Record First Meeting Most Recent Meeting Current Win Streak Ohio State OSU leads 23-14 1912 (PSU 37, OSU 0) 2022 (OSU 44, PSU 31) OSU, 6 Indiana PSU leads 24-2 1993 (PSU 38, IND 31) 2022 (PSU 45, IND 14) PSU, 2 Maryland PSU leads 42-3-1 1917 (PSU 57, MD 0) 2022 (PSU30, MD 0) PSU, 2 Michigan U-M leads 16-10 1993 (U-M 21, PSU 13) 2022 (U-M 41, PSU 17) U-M, 2 Rutgers PSU leads 31-2 1918 (RU 26, PSU 3) 2022 (PSU 55, RU 10) PSU, 16 Michigan State Series tied 18-18-1 1914 (MSU 6, PSU 3) 2022 (PSU 35, MSU 16) PSU, 1