The 2016 Penn State football season has already become a legendary tale — and, as of this writing, it isn’t even done yet; there’s still that game in Pasadena to play.
It’s a tale of a program just beginning to stand on solid ground after devastating NCAA sanctions. It’s a story of a team decimated by injuries at linebacker to begin the season and along the offensive line at the end. Its numerous heroes include a quarterback thought to be too small by many to achieve any kind of consistent success, a running back thought to be one of the nation’s best, an offensive guru who came to Happy Valley from the Big Apple, and a head coach who some thought should be shown the door after just two seasons.
Forget the preseason predictions about the Nittany Lions. Forget about the 49-10 drubbing at the hands of Michigan on September 24. Many were prepared to write the 2016 season off as late as that dark, gloomy afternoon on October 1.
The Lions trailed undefeated Minnesota, 13-3, at halftime. A winning season and a bowl game seemed almost unthinkable at that point.
Then came the comeback, ignited by Irvin Charles’s 80-yard catch and touchdown run of a Trace McSorley pass and capped by Saquon Barkley’s 25-yard touchdown run in overtime. The 29-26 win started a nine-game winning streak to end 2016 and led to a surprising Big Ten championship.
The tale of this season provided so many different remarkable efforts each week. First-year defensive coordinator Brent Pry keeping his unit together when it suffered several injuries at linebacker during the rst month of the season. Linebackers Jason Cabinda and Brandon Bell returning from injuries to play in the Ohio State game and leading the defensive effort that night and for the remainder of the season. Safety Marcus Allen blocking Tyler Durbin’s field-goal attempt and Grant Haley scooping up the ball and returning it 60 yards to help give the Lions the win over the second-ranked Buckeyes. Kicker Tyler Davis hitting on 22 of his 24 fi eld-goal attempts, many in clutch situations, while fellow kicker Joey Julius becoming a folk hero with his tackles and ability to draw penalties from opposing players on kickoffs.
The player, though, who probably epitomized this team and this season best may be McSorley. Once he grasped first-year offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead’s game plan, the fi rst-year starting quarterback seemed almost unstoppable. While Barkley, who rushed for 1,302 yards, garnered many of the headlines and postseason accolades, it was McSorley who came up with big play after big play when opposing defenses focused their efforts on stopping Barkley.
McSorley fi nished 2016 with 3,360 yards passing and 352 yards rushing. He threw 25 touchdowns and just ve interceptions and rushed for six TDs. His MVP effort in the 38-31 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game will go down as one of the great games in Penn State history. McSorley threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns in the comeback victory.
Then there’s head coach James Franklin, who, like McSorley, seems to be underestimated much of the time. At the beginning of the season, Peter Thamel of Sports Illustrated wrote, “James Franklin just hasn’t been a good fit at Penn State.”
Franklin ignored the outside noise and kept to his plan of building the program back following the sanctions levied against it in 2012. Now, not only does he have a Big Ten title, but, with most of his players from the 2016 roster scheduled to be back in 2017 and top recruiting classes in the pipeline, the Lions’ future looks very bright.
Between the players, coaches, and fans, everything seems to be fitting together just nicely thank you!
