Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544053
A P R I L 2 0 2 6 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, 2021 After playing its 2020 season in a series of empty stadiums due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nittany Lion football team was happy to have an audience for its open scrimmage on April 17 at Beaver Stadium. It wasn't a full-scale intrasquad con- test; the resumption of the Blue-White Game would have to wait until 2022. But the Penn State athletics administration opened a portion of the stadium up to spectators, with masking and social dis- tancing rules in place to mitigate risk, and football-hungry fans showed up. "We announced that it was 7,500 fans or somewhere in that ballpark," coach James Franklin said. "After last season, it felt like 75,000." The Nittany Lions were looking to bounce back from a 4-5 finish in 2020 and had brought in a new offensive co- ordinator in Mike Yurcich to work with returning quarterback Sean Clifford. The offense still appeared to be a work in progress during the scrimmage and a second open practice held six days later. But perhaps the biggest takeaway from the team's sneak preview was that a sense of normalcy was slowly, steadily return- ing to PSU and college football as a whole. "Being in that stadium felt great," Franklin said. "I can't imagine what it will be like to get back to what we were averag- ing [in attendance] the two years before the pandemic." 10 YEARS AGO, 2016 Coming off Penn State's second con- secutive 7-6 finish, the big storyline in spring practice was whether the offense could get unstuck with a new coordina- tor (Joe Moorhead) overseeing the belea- guered unit and a new starting quarter- back (either Trace McSorley or Tommy Stevens) running the show. The Blue-White Game offered some encouraging signs. It was won by the starter-laden Blue squad, 37-0, with Mc- Sorley spearheading the offensive surge. He completed 23 of 27 passes (including 18 of his first 19) for 281 yards, throwing for 4 touchdowns with just 1 interception. Stevens, seeing nearly all of his action with the backups on the White squad, hit 7 of 14 passes for just 48 yards, though he did showcase his mobility on a handful of runs that netted 18 yards. Although the stats were decidedly in McSorley's favor, Franklin unsurpris- ingly decreed after the game that the competition for the starting quarter- back job would continue into preseason camp. "I don't think it's fair to this foot- ball team and I don't think it's fair to Tommy right now to name a starter when Tommy can still close the gap," Franklin said. "That's going to create a competitive edge in our locker room and keep Trace working, because we've got a lot of areas to improve. We'll go into camp, and we'll let these guys compete and see what happens." 25 YEARS AGO, 2001 Despite posting a 5-7 record the previ- ous fall, the team's first losing campaign since 1988, the Nittany Lions saw four of their players selected in the 2001 NFL Draft, including a trio of third-rounders. Defensive back Bhawoh Jue was the first PSU player off the board, going to the Green Bay Packers with the 71st overall pick, followed by offensive tackle Kareem McKenzie (79th, New York Jets) and safety James Boyd (94th, Jackson- ville Jaguars). In addition to those three, tight end Tony Stewart was taken by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round with the 147th overall pick. Of those four players, McKenzie ended up having the most distinguished pro career. In 11 NFL seasons — four with the Jets and seven with the New York Gi- ants — he blocked for the likes of Curtis Martin and Tiki Barber. With McKenzie helping pave the way, Martin rushed for a league-leading 1,697 yards in 2004 for the Jets. The following year, in his first season with the Giants, McKenzie helped Barber rush for a franchise-record 1,860 yards. McKenzie went on to play a key role on two Super Bowl-winning Giants teams before retiring after the 2011 season. — Matt Herb This Month In Penn State Athletics History James Franklin's Nittany Lions played in front of 7,500 fans during an open scrimmage that replaced the Blue-White Game in 2021. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS