Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1546586
O C T O B E R 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 Penn State's entire football season turned on a third-down play at Iowa on Oct. 9. The Nittany Lions had won their first five games and were ranked fourth heading into their clash with the un- beaten, third-ranked Hawkeyes. Penn State dominated the first quarter, building a 14-3 lead. Jordan Stout added a 32-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but on the preceding play, quar- terback Sean Clifford took a hit from line- backer Jack Campbell as he threw incom- plete. Clifford never returned to the game, and with backup quarterback Ta'Quan Roberson unable to reignite Penn State's offense, the Hawkeyes steadily chipped away. Clifford had 146 passing yards and 2 total touchdowns in a little over one quar- ter of action, but Roberson had no such luck, completing just 7 of 21 passes for 34 yards and 2 interceptions. Iowa wasn't very effective either, but it had enough offense to rally for a 23-20 victory. A well-timed bye week followed, and Clifford was healthy enough to play when Penn State returned to action against vis- iting Illinois on Oct. 23. But he was forced to wear a heavily padded vest and clearly wasn't himself. The score was tied 10-10 at the end of regulation. What followed was a his- toric display of offensive futility. The two teams played an NCAA-record nine over- time periods, the last seven featuring al- ternating two-point tries from the 3-yard line. Illinois finally ended the 4-hour, 11-minute rock fight with a two-point conversion catch by Casey Washington. The 20-18 loss ended whatever playoff hopes the Nittany Lions may have been entertaining and left them groping for answers. "Obviously, it wasn't to our standard, Penn State's standard," Clifford said. 10 YEARS AGO, 2016 The Nittany Lions needed to regroup quickly after a 49-10 shellacking at Mich- igan on Sept. 24 that dropped their record to 2-2. They did that and then some. The Lions started by outlasting Min- nesota in overtime, with Saquon Bark- ley sprinting 25 yards on PSU's first play of the extra period to finish off a 29-26 comeback win. A 38-14 rout of visiting Maryland followed, setting up a show- down with No. 2 Ohio State on Oct. 22. With a White Out crowd providing a frenzied backdrop, Penn State pulled off arguably the biggest win of the James Franklin era when it rallied to stun the Buckeyes 24-21. The Nittany Lions scored the decisive points when safety Marcus Allen blocked an Ohio State field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter. Cornerback Grant Haley picked up the bouncing ball and sprinted 60 yards to the opposite end zone. "It's something you dream about as a kid," said Haley, who earned a permanent spot in Penn State football lore. "Just running to the end zone and falling, it was a huge sigh of relief. Everything, all the hard work this team has put in, came into play against the No. 2 team in the country." 25 YEARS AGO, 2001 After dropping its first three games in September, Penn State suffered a 20-0 shutout at the hands of visiting Michi- gan to begin October. With the loss to the Wolverines, PSU was off to the worst start of the Joe Paterno coaching era. But for all its difficulties, the team showed resilience. The turnaround began with a 38-35 road victory over No. 22 Northwestern on Oct. 20. Zack Mills finished off a 13-play, 70- yard drive by completing a 4-yard touch- down pass to tailback Eric McCoo with 33 seconds left to give the Lions their first win of the season. The breakthrough in Evanston was fol- lowed by a 29-27 victory over Ohio State at Beaver Stadium. The Buckeyes were hav- ing their own troubles under first-year coach Jim Tressel and were unranked go- ing into their visit to State College, but they rolled to a 27-9 third-quarter lead and seemed to be on their way to a com- fortable victory. But then Mills bounced off a would-be tackler on an option play and dashed 69 yards for a touchdown to give the Lions some hope. He followed by throwing a 26- yard scoring strike to Tony Johnson later in the third quarter, and he hit McCoo for a 14-yard touchdown early in the fourth. It turned out to be the winning score. When the clock hit zero, Paterno was given a Gatorade bath and a ride off the field on the shoulders of his players. It was not just a cathartic win, but a milestone, too — the 324th victory of Paterno's ca- reer, moving him past Alabama's Bear Bryant for the all-time Division I-A lead. — Matt Herb This Month In Penn State Athletics History TixManJim@gmail.com www.TixManJim.com at Sean Clifford passed for 146 yards and accounted for 2 touchdowns in just over a quarter of action against Iowa in 2021, but he was forced to leave the game with an injury early in the second quarter. STEVE MANUEL