Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1541276
6 6 D E C E M B E R 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 C losing time is fast approaching for the 2025 Penn State football team, but it isn't here yet. The Nittany Lions were 3-6 and had dropped six in row following a soul- crushing 27-24 come-from-ahead loss to Indiana on Nov. 8. The defeat left them with three more regular-season games, and they need to win all three to earn a place in the postseason, starting with a road trip to Michigan State fol- lowed by a home date against Nebraska and then the finale at Rutgers. The possibility of a winning streak absolutely exists. After a brutal stretch of playing four top-20 teams in six games, including the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 squads on consecutive Saturdays, the Lions now face foes with a com- bined record of 15-14. On paper, the Cornhuskers are the toughest opponent remaining. They've lost star quarterback Dylan Raiola to a broken fibula, but backup TJ Lateef was impressive in a 28-21 win against UCLA on Nov. 8. In spite of their dismal record, which includes an 0-6 mark in Big Ten play, the Lions might just end up being fa- vored to beat all three remaining oppo- nents; the way they played against the Hoosiers would have won them some other games this year, and it could win them games moving forward. "I think we played competitively," interim head coach Terry Smith said. "Obviously, we made mistakes. I think we had more penalties this week than we've had the last several weeks. We can make better decisions in third- down situations, but defensively, I think it's close to a good game. There's always room for improvement. I'm super proud of these guys. They played their hearts out. I wouldn't do it any other way. "We fought back," he continued. "These guys could have packed it in. They could easily have quit when we were down. … They could have laid down and quit, and they dared not do that. We're going to come back tomor- row, and we'll get back at it. We're go- ing to be ready to play Michigan State." Through an 0-3 start as the replace- ment for James Franklin, Smith has proven he can motivate his team to play hard. But putting forth a good effort is usually not enough to leave victorious. The last three games are good examples of that. What can Penn State do to exit the storm, as Smith has repeatedly called this losing streak? It starts with more downfield passing to open up the running game. It does not include a season-long trend of committing too many penalties and making too many mental mistakes. It will need to feature some game-changing turnovers like the interception that junior safety King Mack pulled in against the Hoosiers. And it wouldn't hurt if some calls went their way or a few balls bounced in their direction. All told, the ending of this season will be a footnote to the real story that's playing out at Penn State right now. A new head coach will be in place before too long, and he will be tasked with winning the kind of games James Franklin could not. He'll also need to avoid the kind of losses that Franklin was so good at avoiding … until, sud- denly, he wasn't. Penn State's choice will impact some of the current players, but not all. The members of this year's team have each other to play for. They cannot win the whole thing, or anything remotely close to it, but they can win out, earn a bowl invitation and figure out the next steps from there. While the Nittany Lions might not end up doing that, they won't go down without a fight, either. "These guys are busting their butts," Smith said. "Our old guys, they're leading the way. That's why I feel so bad for them, because they're doing everything we ask. They're working hard, they're leading the locker room. They're making sure these young guys are following. They're leading by ex- ample. "We just have to figure it out. I'm not making excuses, but we played at Iowa at night. Then the No. 1 team and No. 2 team. It was a tough road, and we're going to come back next week. We're going to fight harder. No one will ever question if a Terry Smith team doesn't play hard." Now, it's about doing everything else to turn a losing streak into a winning one. ■ O P I N I O N GREG PICKEL GREG.PICKEL@ON3.COM There's Still Something To Play For THE LAST WORD Junior safety King Mack made one of the biggest plays of Penn State's game against Indiana when he inter- cepted Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza in the fourth quarter. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS