Sunday Column: After Senior Day Win, Nittany Lion Fans Have Much to be Thankful For … Even if it Doesn’t Feel That Way

Disclaimer: The following opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of For The Blogy. Hell, they might not even reflect the views of the author but, rather, those of Penn State fans he has been hearing from or reading during these last few weeks.

Penn State has completed a 10-win regular season, and will likely finish among the nation’s top 10 and play in a quality bowl game, such as they exist in any way, shape, or form outside the playoff these days.

By any measure, for a team that was predicted to go 8-4 or 9-3 by most, and was coming off 4-5 and 7-6 campaigns, the 2022 season must be considered a success. The Nittany Lions were the bug against Michigan and Ohio State (as was everyone else in the Big Ten), but they were the windshield against every other opponent on the schedule, winning those 10 games by the average margin of 25 points.

That there was such a glaring difference in quality between the two teams that handed the Lions those defeats and the 10 that they defeated probably says more about the lack of parity in the sport today than anything about Penn State, but the fact remains that you can only play the teams on your schedule, or, more accurately, the non-con teams your AD scheduled seven years earlier and the conference opponents (beginning on the road, of course) you get handed by the league office.

Penn State’s defense started good and got better as the season went on. The offensive line took a few wobbly steps forward in what was always going to be a long recovery journey, the tight ends emerged in a big way, and the special teams were sufficient if not spectacular. More importantly, by the end of the season, many of the team’s most dynamic and important players — Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen, and Abdul Carter — were freshmen, true building blocks for the immediate and intermediate futures.

And yet, at least among a certain percentage of the fan base, there was a lack of enthusiasm that bordered on dissatisfaction as the fall went on. For most programs, 10-2 (bowl game pending) is a tremendous season. For Penn State, it seemed to be more of a stark reminder of the steps it still has to take than the considerable steps it took.

Look, I understand the desire to cheer on the sort of program that has real playoff aspirations, to end at least one of the droughts against the hated Wolverines or Buckeyes, and I know that, despite the double-digit victories, the Nittany Lions are closer to the flawed Michigan State, Purdue, or Maryland squads they beat than the two bullies ahead of them in their own division.

But they weren’t going to close that entire gap this year, especially where they were coming from.

Many of the big things holding Penn State back from becoming a true championship contender — a lack of a dominant offensive line, of elite quarterback play, of consistent and coherent playcalling (and all three of those things affect the other) — remain. But some of them — elite talent in the offensive backfield, a restored linebacking corps, quality depth at most positions — were checked boxes this season, and will be crucial if or when they’re able to check those other boxes. If the Nittany Lions aren’t “ahead of the chains” when it comes to building a legit contender, they’re a damn sight better than they were a year ago, a solid 3^rd-and-5 versus the 3rd-and-20 of the last two seasons.

Take a quick look around college football, beyond the cozy and familiar confines of the mostly mediocre Big Ten. Perennial powers like Oklahoma (6-6), Texas (8-4), Florida (6-6), and Miami (5-7) are irrelevant, and even traditional superpowers like Clemson and Alabama are down by their impossible standards. Tennessee crashed the party, hit the whiskey too early and had to be driven home before midnight. And (back to the Big Ten for a hot second) the Buckeyes, the mighty Buckeyes, are licking their wounds and mulling another playoff-less season after being spanked by a Michigan program that, not so very long ago, was in the good-but-not-great tweener zone in which Penn State currently finds itself in (again).

So I get the disappointment that 10-2 wasn’t 12-0 or even 11-1, and I get the desire to turn the page at the QB1 position (even though Sean Clifford wasn’t half bad on Saturday), and I get that Franklin’s record in big moments in big games still leaves a lot to be desired. I do.

At the end of the day, though, college football is about momentum, in games and in the big picture. It can take you to new heights quickly (see Michigan, TCU) or send you into a free fall just as quickly (see Clemson, Tennessee). Penn State has it right now, and that it achieved that momentum by stamping out some pretty paltry competition is not trivial but also not the whole story. The bowl game will write the final chapter on this season but, barring a disastrous result, that’s a book that even the most pessimistic Penn State fans should be pleased with given the modest preseason expectations for this team.