Penn State’s former coach, James Franklin, has officially locked down his next gig. Penn State’s current coach, Terry Smith, got his first win, brought home the Land-Grant Trophy, and then brought down the house with an emotional press conference when he explained exactly what it means to him to be leading the football program at his alma mater. The guys talk about the future of Franklin at Virginia Tech and the future at Penn State and Terry’s place in it.

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I guess it only took the desire for the prestigious Land Grant Trophy to finally get Penn State into the Big Ten win column.

The Nittany Lions traveled to East Lansing on Saturday in danger of going 0-7 in conference play, which would have surpassed the nadir set by the supremely forgettable 2003 Nittany Lions, who also lost their first six conference games before beating (cough) Indiana in Beaver Stadium. They went to Spartan Stadium the following week and lost 41-7.

This time, Dani Dennis-Sutton and the Penn State defense showed up (after taking their first snap off), the special teams blocked another punt, and the offense did what it has had a surprisingly difficult time of doing this season and gave the damn ball to Fatman.

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From the players to the coaches to the fans, everybody brought their Saturday best against Indiana, but in keeping with the theme of this cursed season, it wasn’t enough. The Hoosiers prevailed, and in heart-breaking fashion, narrowly avoiding a costly upset loss and denying Coach Terry Smith and the beleaguered Penn State fanbase the signature win they deserve. And yet amid that disappointment there also arose a powerful reminder of everything that makes Penn State football great – the resilient stuff that will survive this moment as it has endured many tougher trials in the past and will be here waiting, strong as ever, when the storm breaks and the next coach arrives.

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When you’ve been up for a long time and suddenly find yourself down, the number of teams who spent most of those up years under your foot but now are quick to line up to get some payback can be shocking.

Indiana, which served as a cure-all for several good-but-not-great Penn State teams following tough losses to the likes of Ohio State and Michigan over the years, was the latest to take a turn pecking on the carcass of the Nittany Lions on Saturday.

Except this Indiana team was all ‘growed up.’

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