Football Team Impresses in THON's Dance Competition

One of the most popular events of THON is the Pep Rally, where Penn State’s athletic programs are pitted against each other in a good old-fashion dance off. Of course the football program takes part in the yearly competition, although the success of the team’s routine has been hit-or-miss in recent years.

I’m sure we all remember the stellar routine of the Robert Bolden led 2011 group. After watching Bolden move to-and-fro to *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye”, I was convinced that man was going to lead Penn State to a National Championship.

Unfortunately, completing screen passes is a basic and necessary skill that quarterbacks must have, but man, Bolden’s ability to lead a dance squad can’t be questioned.

Following 2011, the Nittany Lions’ THON performances left a lot to be desired. The 2013 routine was — in a word — garbage. And while the 2014 and 2015 performances had juice, there was no real direction. Fortunately for the Blue-and-White faithful, things were turned around last year. The energy and direction was there, and let me tell you folks, there was dabbing. Lots and lots of dabbing.

This routine was performed shortly after Moorhead’s arrival — just the spark the football team needed, in more ways than one.

So heading into this year’s performance, expectations had risen. No longer were people asking “Could the football team get back to its glory days under Robert Bolden?” Now it was “Could this team repeat as THON Pep Rally champions?”

As you can see from the video above, the football team once again captured the hearts of Happy Valley. Although the football ended up not finishing in the top three, it was an inspiring performance out of James Franklin’s program. No. 27, Anthony Johnson, was the star of the group this go around, but peep Blake Gillikin. Sneaky good performance from everybody’s favorite punter.

P.s. Thank God Miles Sanders didn’t hurt his knee on the flip.