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Introduction
We’ve reached the conclusion of Penn State’s 12-game 2022 regular season slate, marking the end of an era in Happy Valley. (I told myself I wasn’t gonna cry. Hold it together, Nate). Barney Amor will never kick another punt in Beaver Stadium. As almost-canceled author Dr. Seuss once said, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” The unofficial mascot of this weekly blog post ended his storied career with another signature performance, booming balls for a 50 yards-per-punt average – just how a legend should go out. #RE96ECT.
According to my notes, another era ended on Saturday, too – The Sean Clifford Era. More polarizing than the epic “yanny” vs. “laurel” debate of 2018 (when Sean was actually a sophomore academically), the 6th-year senior and 4th-year starter graced the Beaver Stadium stage for the final time on Saturday. He, and the 2022 team, went out with a 19-point win over “rival”(?) Michigan State, closing the season on a 4-game win streak during which the average margin of victory was 31 points. All things considered, it’s a good way to go out for Clifford but instead of focusing our attention solely on No. 14, today we’ll talk about this game and this season from a 30,000-foot perspective and put it in context of Penn State’s entire football history.
