Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1511150
D E C E M B E R 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 Penn State had tumbled out of con- tention for a New Year's Six bowl when it lost 42-7 to Michigan in early Novem- ber, the team's third defeat of the sea- son. By winning their last three regu- lar-season games, though, the Nittany Lions earned a spot in the New Year's Day lineup and spent December prepar- ing to face Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl. While it was a step down after play- ing in the Rose and Fiesta bowls the two previous seasons, the trip to Orlando did offer the Lions a chance to make a small piece of school history. Since the start of the Big Ten era in 1993, they had never won 10 or more games in three consecutive seasons. Now, after win- ning 11 games in both the 2016 and '17 campaigns, they were entering their matchup against the Wildcats with a 9-3 record. That was one of coach James Frank- lin's points of emphasis while Penn State went through its bowl prepara- tions. "When you can do something that's never been done at Penn State before in the Big Ten era, I think that's a pretty strong statement," Franklin said. "It's something that our senior class can be really proud of, something that our Penn State fan base can be really proud of. There are not a whole lot of teams in the country that have been able to do what we've been able to do consistently over the last three years." Penn State didn't end up reach- ing that milestone. Kentucky took a 20-point lead in the third quarter and held on for a 27-24 win. 10 YEARS AGO, 2013 December should have been a quiet month for the Penn State football pro- gram. The Nittany Lions were serv- ing the second year of their four-year, NCAA-mandated bowl ban and were home for the holidays. Then the word began to trickle out that Bill O'Brien was under consider- ation for an NFL coaching job. Less than a month after wrapping up his second season at PSU with a 31-24 upset of 14th-ranked Wisconsin, O'Brien met with Houston Texans officials at his home in Cape Cod, Mass. It had long been known that the former New Eng- land Patriots offensive coordinator was intrigued by the idea of returning to the NFL; when he drew interest after the 2012 season, Penn State lowered his contract buyout from just under $20 million to $6.48 million in exchange for an agreement that he would return for the 2013 campaign. O'Brien agreed on New Year's Eve to become the Texans' head coach. He had spent just two seasons in State College, going 15-9. His head coaching tenure was the shortest for Penn State's foot- ball program since 1949, when Joe Be- denk went 5-4 in his lone season at the helm. 25 YEARS AGO, 1998 The Penn State football team has played Kentucky only six times over the years, with the two most recent meet- ings taking place on New Year's Day in Florida. Twenty years before facing the Wildcats in the Citrus Bowl, Penn State traveled to Tampa to face them in the Outback Bowl. With Air Raid pioneer Hal Mumme as their head coach and future No. 1 over- all draft pick Tim Couch orchestrating Mumme's schemes as their consensus All-America quarterback, the Wildcats were at the forefront of college foot- ball's evolution into a more pass-ori- ented game. "That Kentucky offense is awesome," Joe Paterno said when the matchup was announced in early December. "We'll have a real challenge on our hands." Paterno flashed back to Penn State's previous appearance in the Outback Bowl, a 43-14 victory over Auburn in 1996 that took place after heavy rains had turned the field into a quagmire. "I wouldn't be unhappy this time if we get the same weather, maybe help slow Timmy down a little bit." Paterno said. The weather didn't cooperate. In- deed, the field conditions were pristine for the first Outback Bowl to be played at Raymond James Stadium. Still, Pa- terno need not have worried. His de- fense was up to the challenge, sacking Couch 6 times and intercepting him twice in a 26-14 victory. — Matt Herb This Month In Penn State Athletics History After two seasons at Penn State, during which he went 15-9, Bill O'Brien left in December 2013 to become head coach of the NFL's Houston Texans. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL