Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/797655
GHOST HUNTERS Lions put Rose Bowl's haunting finish behind them during off-season yeem Wartman-White was the first one to really say it. Meeting with reporters last July in Chicago for the Big Ten's annual preseason media summit, the senior Penn State linebacker went on the record with a bold assertion: The Nit- tany Lions' goal in 2016, he said, was nothing less than to win the conference championship. Established while the team was preparing for preseason camp in August, Wart- man-White's emphatic statement of purpose turned out to be prophetic. After getting off to a 2-2 start in Sep- tember, the Nittany Lions regained their stride with a rousing overtime victory over Minnesota, and they parlayed the momentum from that game into a nine-game winning streak, a Big Ten East Division title, a come- back win for the ages against Wisconsin in the league championship game, and eventually a Rose Bowl berth. While the Lions weren't able to finish off Southern California, their season was still a remarkable success story, worthy of the "Mission Accom- plished" stamp. Now it's time for another mission. At Penn State's THON Explorers event last month at the Lasch Building, amidst the 50-plus Nittany Lions play- ing charitable hosts for the day, casual conversation and post-event interviews revealed a new norm. The Nittany Lions don't want simply to put more building blocks in place as they strive to get back to their former status as one of the na- tion's elite programs. They want to be an elite program, the kind that wins na- tional championships. Said defensive lineman Ryan Buchholz, "We had a meeting with Coach [Sean] Spencer the other day and he was like, 'You guys are Big Ten champs. And you made it to the Rose Bowl, but obviously we didn't win.' We want to get back to the Rose Bowl." In any other year, that might sound like the kind of goal that sells short the possibility of a national title. But that won't be the case this coming season, JUDGMENT CALL N RUNNING ROOM Barkley rushed for 194 yards against Southern Cal, but it wasn't enough to bring the Nit- tany Lions a victory. Players say they've used their Rose Bowl loss to stay motivated throughout the off-season. Photo by Steve Manuel