Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1531683
1 6 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M They Said It "I learned a lot about myself, and I think it's a credit to the coaching staff for just allowing me to be me. I think I grew a lot, on the field, off the field. I'm just looking forward to continuing to grow, learning more about myself, getting better in any way I can. … I'm definitely going to learn from this and move on." — Quarterback Drew Allar following the Orange Bowl, in which he completed 12 of 23 passes for 135 yards and an interception "Penn State knew coming into the game that Notre Dame would frequently play press man coverage. The Irish also boast a cornerback group that doesn't feature a player below 6-foot and 180 pounds. Penn State's receivers simply didn't win at the point of at- tack to make life easier on Allar." — Max Ralph, PennLive writer, on PSU's wide receiver corps, which was held without a catch by Notre Dame "I feel deeply for the Penn State community tonight — the fans, coaches, and most of all, the players. I know that feeling, pouring every ounce of yourself into a program you love with all your heart. So proud to be a Penn Stater. The beauty is in the struggle. To- morrow, the sun will rise again. How blessed we are to have these opportunities. I know we'll capitalize on the next one." — Former Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford, via X (Twitter) following the Orange Bowl "Crushing loss for [Penn State] to cap an incredible season. I feel awful for Drew Allar and yet acknowl- edge that the QB cannot throw the ball late over the middle (great play by CB). WR position was always the biggest concern, and that came back to haunt them." — FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt, via X "The Nittany Lions got a favorable draw with SMU and Boise State to get to this stage, but they didn't fare as well throughout the season against the sport's heavyweights: Ohio State, Oregon and Notre Dame. They need to be able to dictate the style of game better in those types of games if they want to get over the hump." — Kyle Bonagura, ESPN writer "Everybody was against us in that match. The entire crowd was red, basically. We're sitting here, espe- cially us seniors, thinking we're not losing to them, period. I think coming back, everyone knew we had to kick it in, we had to play our game. Nebraska obvi- ously is a great team, but we saw them in the Big Ten season, and we beat them. So, going into that game, we knew we had all the confidence, and we just had to show that on the court. "I was really proud going into that third set, and our fourth-set fight. That's just the kind of people we are. We have the grit. We have the power to do what we want to do when we put our minds to it." — Super senior middle blocker Taylor Trammell on the Penn State women's volleyball team's comeback against Nebraska, in which it rallied to beat the Cornhuskers in the NCAA Tournament semifinals after dropping the first two sets "To win it as a coach is really special. Someone asked, is it better as a player or as a coach? I said, I just like to win, and I like to compete, and I like to help our players be the best they can be." — Katie Schumacher-Cawley, who was a player on Penn State's 1999 national championship women's volleyball team and in December won her first NCAA crown as the Nittany Lions' head coach PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS "The one thing I want to make sure all those guys do is walk out of that locker room with their heads high and their chests out, because they have a ton to be proud of. There are about 128 teams that would give their right arm to have the season that we just had this year. It doesn't feel that way right now, but there's a ton to be proud of." — James Franklin following Penn State's 27-24 loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, which brought an end to a 13-3 season