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| Penn State players follow new coach Bill O'Brien out of the locker room at Beaver Stadium |
Happy Valley has undergone many changes since the Sandusky
scandal, and come September all eyes were on Bill O'Brien and the rest of the
2012 Nittany Lion football team. The Penn State uniforms feature players names
on the backs of the jerseys for the first time ever, O'Brien says it shows who
stayed and stuck it out for this university, and it would show the fans who the
players are, and the players who wanted to be here. Many key players left the
team to play elsewhere, the key players leaving being running back Silas Redd
and Wide Receiver Justin Brown. The rest of the team stuck together under first
year coach Bill O'Brien and Senior linebacker and Senior quarterback Matt
McGloin really stepped up to show leadership on this team and kept it together
as a unit going into the season.
The season didn't start on a good note for Penn State.
97,000 fans showed up to show support for their Nittany Lions. Penn State got
out to a quick start on Ohio, after scoring on two passing touchdowns from Matt
McGloin, to go up 14-3 at the half. Emotion then seemed to have gotten the best
of the Penn State team. Penn State struggled offensively in the second half and
was held scoreless, while the defense gave up 21 unanswered points and Penn
State fell to Ohio, 24-14 at home. Penn State hadn't lost a season opener 2001
against the University of Miami, who was a top five team when they faced Penn
State that year.
The second game unfortunately showed more of the same for
the Nittany Lions, as they played awful against Virginia, and fell 17-16 after
Sam Ficken missed the game winning field goal in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Ficken went 1-5 on field goals that day, and he also missed an extra point. It
was just a heart breaking game for any Penn State fan, and it made it look like
there was no hope to be had whatsoever in this Penn State football team.
Penn State finally showed up to play at home in week three
against the Navy Midshipmen. Penn State came out firing on all cylinders as
Matt McGloin connected on four touchdown passes, three of them to wide receiver
Allen Robinson. Robinson finished with five receptions for 136 yards and three
touchdowns. Robinson has really emerged as a favorite target for McGloin and
the team finally got the spark they needed in this game. The Penn State defense
held Navy to just four third down conversions, and forced four turnovers in the
victory. They allowed the only touchdown Navy scored in the 34-7 victory with
just 10:03 left in the final quarter. Penn State dominated this game, and it
proved to be the spark that the team needed.
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| Penn State wide receiver Allen Robinson scoring a touchdown vs Navy |
The momentum from the Navy game carried over into their week
four match up against Temple. After a closely contested first quarter Penn
State finally started to pull away. Matt McGloin connected on a 41 yard
touchdown pass to Allen Robinson with six seconds left in the first quarter,
and it was all Penn State from then on out. Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin
threw for 318 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for two more scores in the
victory. The Penn State defense held strong and only allowed three first downs
in the 24-13 win. Penn State finally started showing signs of turning the
season around as they improved to 2-2 with the win.
Penn State then traveled to Champaign to play its Big Ten
opener against Illinois. The Illini failed to put together any substantial
drives in the first half as they fell behind early. Penn State scored an early
touchdown on a one yard rush by Zach Zwinak, and then scored another touchdown
on a one yard rush by Matt McGloin. Late in the second quarter Matt McGloin
connected on a 21 yard pass to Matt Lehman to put Penn State up 21-0.
Illinois then drove down the field but on 4th and goal
Nathan Scheelaase's pass was intercepted by Penn State Senior linebacker
Michael Mauti. Mauti returned the interception the whole way back on what was
initially thought to be a touchdown. The play was then reviewed and Mauti was
marked down at the one and the clock still had just one tick left on it. Sam
Ficken came out to attempt a field goal for the Nittany Lions but the kick was
blocked and Illinois held Penn State to a 21 point lead, hoping to rally behind
the small momentum boost that they took with them into the locker room. Penn
State showed its true strength and poured on two more touchdowns to win the
game 35-7. With the win Penn State became 3-2, 1-0 in conference play, and
Illinois fell to 2-3. This win marked the third straight for the Lions, and
Happy Valley was buzzing with excitement. The Nittany Lions were back.
The next week was the game of the year for the Nittany
Lions. Penn State was set to face #24 Northwestern at home. The Wildcats
traveled to Happy Valley 5-0, and were hungry to be 6-0 for the first time in
50 years. Penn State got an early field goal, and then scored on a rushing
touchdown by Zach Zwinak. Northwestern then rallied and scored two touchdowns
to take a 14-10 lead into halftime. Matt McGloin found his favorite wide
receiver Allen Robinson for an eight yard score. Northwestern then took control
of the game. Kain Colter then scored on a 10 yard run, and Venric Mark returned
a punt 75 yards for a touchdown and it was beginning to look like Penn State
was completely out of the game.
Penn State was trailing 28-17 and it was looking like the
game was about to be blown wide open in the Wildcats favor. The Wildcats just
couldn't put up another touchdown, which would've sunk the Nittany Lions in
this game. Matt McGloin took the team down the field, and threw his second
touchdown pass to Allen Robinson in the game, which made the score 28-23. Penn
State decided to go for a two point conversion and the conversion was
successful on a handoff up the middle to Michael Zordich. This brought the
Nittany Lions within three points. With just less than three minutes remaining
in the game Matt McGloin dove into the end zone to put the Lions on top 32-28
with just 2:37 left to play in the game. Penn State then got the ball back and
scored to make the final score a little wider than what it is, the final score
of this game being 39-28. Penn State trailed by 11 heading into the final
quarter, but rallied to score 22 unanswered points to stun Northwestern. This
was the win of the year for the Nittany Lions, and Matt McGloin, Allen
Robinson, and linebacker Michael Mauti continued to lead this team to
victories. This win was an upset, and it handed Northwestern their first loss
on the season.
Penn State was 4-2 heading into Iowa to play a not so great
Iowa team, even though they were also 4-2 going into the match up. This game
tends to get more hype than normal Big Ten games as Iowa as seemingly always
had Penn State's number, and no Nittany Lion fan will ever forget the 2008
season when Iowa hit a field goal as time expired to strip Penn State of its
National Title hopes. Iowa is a bitter rival of Penn State and they always seem
to come out with a lot more energy in this game. Iowa lost a lot of players to
graduation and the NFL that were key in their success, and Penn State played a
great game and destroyed the Hawkeyes 38-13. Matt McGloin threw for 289 yards
and two touchdowns, while running back Bill Belton ran for 103 yards on 16
carries, and three touchdowns.
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| Running Back Bill Belton running past Iowa defenders |
The next game was the biggest test of the season thus far.
Ohio State. This is one of the biggest rivalry games that is played yearly in
the Big Ten, and this year the hated Buckeyes traveled to Beaver Stadium to
take on Penn State. Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin threw for 327 yards and
two touchdowns in the losing effort. Penn State fell 35-23, and suffered their
first loss since week two. Penn State had a five game winning streak entering
the game against Ohio State, but Braxton Miller threw for 143 yards and a
score, and he also rushed for 134 yards and two scores.
Penn State will play Purdue this week in an attempt to reach
six wins on the season. With the scandal Penn State isn't eligible for a bowl
game for four years, and faced $60 million dollars in fines. Penn State lost
many players from the team, as mentioned earlier. The team came together and is
working to restore the universities image. The community completely came
together through everything and continues to support Penn State football. We
Are and always will be... Penn State!
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| The Joe Paterno statue before it was removed after the Sandusky scandal |
You can get more info on Penn State football here:
http://espn.go.com/colleges/psu/index
Bill O'Brien and team picture from:
http://www.phonienews.com/penn-state-fans-show-pride-as-lions-fall-cbs-news/
Allen Robinson vs Navy picture:
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/09/15/penn-state-sinks-navy-34-7-for-obriens-first-win/
Bill Belton picture:
http://victorybellrings.com/2012/10/21/penn-state-nittany-lions-iowa-hawkeyes-players-of-the-game/
Joe Paterno Statue picture:
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-07-13/news/32652013_1_jerry-sandusky-scandal-paterno-family-statement-paterno-legacy
Stats From:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/213/penn-state-nittany-lions
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