Blue White Illustrated

Ohio State Postgame

Penn State Sports Magazine

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O c T O B E R 2 3 , 2 0 1 6 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 3 McSorley finished with 8 completions in 23 attempts for 154 yards. THE TAKEAWAY Franklin has long insisted that he hasn't been looking for a so-called "signature" win at Penn State, writing such mile- stones off as media-driven hyperbole. But those who were looking can stop now. This was it. It was Penn State's first win over a top-10 opponent since 2008 (13-6 over No. 9 Ohio State) and its first win over a top-five opponent since 1999 (41-7 over No. 4 Arizona). On a more subjective level, it was surely the pro- gram's most satisfying victory since the quadruple-overtime win against Michi- gan in 2013. In the immediate a=ermath of the game, Franklin was reluctant to think big picture, preferring instead to savor the moment. "I understand the significance of beating the No. 2 team in the country, a team that hadn't lost an away game in 20 games, a good football program, a great university," he said. "I get all that. But I just want to enjoy tonight. I want to enjoy it till tomorrow a=ernoon when we break the film down. Because a=er that, we've got to move on to the next game." Fair enough. But a=er the fizzy eupho- ria wears off, the Nittany Lions do need to get refocused. They have five games remaining – against Purdue, Iowa, Indi- ana, Rutgers and Michigan State. There isn't an opponent on that list that the Lions seemingly can't beat; those teams have gone 15-22 this season and only one of them – Iowa – has a winning record coming out of this weekend's action. But there isn't an opponent on that list that the Lions seemingly couldn't lose to, either, including next week's foe, Purdue, which looked feisty on Saturday under interim coach Gerad Parker in a 27-14 road loss to No. 8 Ne- braska. So while this victory was the team's best in a long, long time, it's a stepping stone, not a final destination. Haley's 60-yard return supplied Penn State with the winning points. Photo by Steve Manuel

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