Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547542
D E C E M 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 didn't play a game in December 2021, having earned an invitation to the Outback Bowl to face Arkansas on New Year's Day. But while awaiting the showdown with the Razorbacks in Tampa, James Franklin made one of the boldest moves of his coaching ten- ure, persuading recently axed Miami (Fla.) head coach Manny Diaz to sign on as the Nittany Lions' new defen- sive coordinator. Penn State had lost Brent Pry fol- lowing the regular season, with the veteran DC leaving to become Vir- ginia Tech's head coach. Franklin re- sponded by inquiring about Diaz's availability after the defensive guru had been let go by Miami. The Hur- ricanes were openly pursuing Mario Cristobal while Diaz was still on the job in Coral Gables. When Cristobal accepted, Diaz suddenly found him- self unemployed. He thought about simply taking some time off, but Franklin made it worth his while to accept a coordinator job. "I didn't know where I was go- ing to go," Diaz said at his introduc- tory news conference on Dec. 17. "I wanted to see what the best oppor- tunity was and make sure it was a place where I was around great people, like- minded people, who were doing the right things, and that we could win. If it was going to be at the defensive coordi- nator level, [it had to be a place where] we had a chance to play great defense. Penn State ticked all those boxes." 10 YEARS AGO, 2016 After starting out the season un- ranked, the Nittany Lions improbably found themselves in the Big Ten Cham- pionship Game, and they weren't just happy to be there. The seventh-ranked Lions earned one of the best wins of the James Franklin era by rallying from a 21-point second-quarter deficit to de- feat No. 6 Wisconsin 38-31 on Dec. 3 in Indianapolis. Led by quarterback Trace McSorley, who set a Big Ten Championship Game record with his 384 passing yards, the Lions outscored Wisconsin 24-3 in the second half and won their ninth game in a row. They trailed 28-7 with five minutes remaining in the first half, but Saeed Blacknall caught a 40-yard touchdown pass with 58 seconds to play to get the comeback started. Blacknall and Mc- Sorley teamed up again early in the third quarter on a 70-yard TD pass to draw the Lions within a touchdown. Black- nall would go on to set a Big Ten title game record with 155 receiving yards on 6 catches. Saquon Barkley scored an 18-yard touchdown on a wheel route to give the Lions a 35-31 lead early in the fourth quarter, and Tyler Davis supplied the game's final points on a 24-yard field goal with just over five minutes remain- ing. Penn State clinched the victory when defensive backs Grant Haley and Marcus Allen stopped Wisconsin run- ning back Corey Clement on fourth- and-1 at the PSU 24-yard line with a minute to go. Afterward, McSorley said his con- fidence had never wavered, even af- ter the Lions fell behind early. They had been a second-half team all season, and McSorley's conversa- tions with the wide receivers only reinforced his belief that PSU would find a way. "Those dudes came to me at half- time and said, 'Trust us, we're going to make the play,'" McSorley said. "When our guys are playing with confidence like that, it's going to be tough to stop them." The win gave Penn State its first Big Ten title since 2008 and fourth all-time, but it did not earn the Li- ons a spot in the College Football Playoff. At 11-2, they were passed over in favor of Ohio State, a team they'd beaten in October. 25 YEARS AGO, 2001 After enduring only one losing season in his first 34 years as Penn State's head football coach, Joe Pa- terno suffered his second in a row when Penn State bumbled its way to a 20-14 loss at Virginia on Dec. 1 in Charlottesville. Penn State had posted five comeback wins in its previous six games, improv- ing its record to 5-5 heading into the regular-season finale. But quarterback Zack Mills and company weren't able to rally against the Cavaliers, mainly because they kept turning the ball over. Art Thomas' 92-yard scoop-and- score touchdown cut the Nittany Lions' lead to 14-13 in the third quarter and changed the course of the game. Virginia scored again on its next possession, and 3 second-half PSU interceptions — two by Mills, one by backup Matt Senneca — scuttled any comeback hopes. "It's real disappointing," Senneca said, "especially for the seniors who've been through so much. We were one game away from turning this whole thing around, and it just slips away from us like that." — Matt Herb This Month In Penn State Athletics History Trace McSorley set Big Ten Championship Game records when he threw for 384 yards and 4 touchdowns in Penn State's 38-31 win over Wisconsin in 2016. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL