There have been moments throughout the season that it looked as if Penn State would collapse. The Nittany Lions trailed at halftime against Bowling Green, lost a star safety to a long-term injury, went down by double-digits at USC and played without their starting quarterback in a crucial second half at Wisconsin.
But the adversity seemingly hasn’t impacted James Franklin’s program. Penn State ranks No. 3 in the AP Top 25 poll with a 7-0 record and has put itself in as good a position to beat Ohio State as any season in recent memory. Each roadblock has only strengthened the Nittany Lions, but are they strong enough to finally get past the Buckeyes? Their players seem to think so.
“I feel like we’ve been through everything throughout this whole season so far,” running back Nick Singleton said Tuesday. “We’ve been down at half, faced a lot of adversity last week, USC, Bowling Green too. But I feel like this team, it just shows we never give up. We’re gonna play four quarters every game, which this week’s going to be too. I feel like we’re ready for it. We’ve been through a lot, so we just know what to expect.”
The season began with a convincing win at West Virginia. But an injury to safety Kevin Winston Jr., a preseason All-American, shook up a defensive back room low on depth. Penn State’s defense has bent, at times, but never broken, becoming one of the nation’s most dominant units in the second half — when games are won.
“I feel like you don’t really know who you are or what kind of team you have until you go through adversity,” defensive end Abdul Carter said. “And going through that adversity makes that championship team, that team that’s built to fight.”
That’s right. Despite the injuries or halftime deficits, the Nittany Lions haven’t lost sight of the goal ahead: winning a national title. It hasn’t been done in 38 years, but the past only means so much when a team’s mantra revolves around winning one game at a time, without worrying about a previous game or an opponent that lies ahead.
But Ohio State is a different story. Before the year even began, every player, coach and fan nationwide knew all too well that Penn State would first have to get over its seven-year slump against the Buckeyes if it ever hoped to contend for a championship. The opportunity has arrived again, and the Nittany Lions understand as well as anyone what a win could signal.
“A win on Saturday would mean the same thing as a win last week. We want to be 1-0. I will say it would change the culture around here, but it would also show us what we needed to see and what we’ll need to do going forward,” linebacker Kobe King said. “Wanting to win the Big Ten and winning a national championship, we gotta win this week.”
The pressure is high, but it hasn’t taken over the mindset of a team that knows its capabilities. There’s a certain level of confidence that players say has differed from seasons past. That’s a credit to the coaching staff, defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas said. They’ve built what J-Thomas called “another team” compared to the five others he’s been a part of.
Andy Kotelnicki, in his first year as Penn State’s offensive coordinator, is the obvious difference-maker. He’s a jolly soul who has transformed what was an underperforming offense to, now, one of the nation’s most creative and explosive. Tom Allen, who needed some time to get used to his new role as defensive coordinator, has since settled in, as well.
There’s no level of anxiety from coaches ahead of a game that could dictate Penn State’s fate. It’s business as usual.
“You can just tell by the staff. They’re just so much more confident, not only in themselves, but also the players,” J-Thomas said. “You look around, you see the coaches just smiling more, and I think that’s just a credit to the way we’ve prepared in the offseason. … I think they’re just moving with a bit more confidence. So I appreciate that, and I think that’s going to also be a big difference for us.”
The moment was there for the taking last season. The Buckeyes struggled in a game that saw the Nittany Lions struggle more and lose because of that. But the times have changed. This is a different team with a different mentality, a team that hasn’t flinched in the face of adversity and has made adjustments when needed.
This is a team full of players that believe deep in their hearts that they will beat Ohio State on Saturday.
“We’re ready,” wide receiver Harrison Wallace III said. “We’ve been preparing. We’ve been taking every day day-by-day, improving every day, doing the most that we can. So I can say, pretty confidently, we’re ready.”
