There aren’t a lot of perfect endings in sport. At least, very, very few that don’t take place on a national championship stage.
But Penn State, as the rain poured down in Southern California on Monday night, got as near to a perfect close to the 2022 season as circumstances were going to allow. A team that had frustrated and confused its fans throughout a promising but inconsistent season blew the doors off a good Utah team with a flurry of second-half strikes to win 35-21. The Nittany Lions checked so many of the boxes that had eluded them in losses to Michigan and Ohio State and even a few of their grittier wins—big plays on offense AND defense, run-pass balance, turnover-free football and, really, as clean of a game as we’ve seen from them in several years.
And it was a win that provided equal parts hope for the near future and satisfaction with the present.
