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This past Saturday, your Nittany Lions clashed with the Terrapins of Maryland, and emerged victorious. It wasn’t always pretty, but when the clock struck aughts, Penn State had a 31-14 victory on their hands.
A win, no matter how unimpressive, is a win.
Penn State last felt the thrill of victory over a month ago, when they shut out Indiana 24-0.
They then went on the road to Iowa, and went up 17-3 on the Hawkeyes.
Since then? Well, it seems like nearly everything has gone wrong for the Lions.
The QB position is far more tenuous than we all would have hoped.
The rushing game - whether its the RBs not hitting holes or succumbing to arm tackles, or the OL/TEs simply being unable to block - has been unable to pick up the slack left by the QB questions.
The defense, while playing out of their minds, are starting to rack up injuries, and when left out to dry too many times by the offense, simply cannot hold back the flood waters forever.
October 2nd - win over Indiana.
October 9th - loss to Iowa.
October 16th - BYE.
October 23rd - NONUPLE OVERTIME loss to Illinois.
October 30th - loss to Ohio State.
November 6th - Maryland.
Despite a statistically dominant first half, the Lions went into halftime up just 7-6. With 14:49 left in the fourth quarter, the game was tied 14-14.
Finally, mercifully, just after Maryland tied the game up, Penn State took control of the game. Sean Clifford found Jahan Dotson for an 86-yard touchdown pass, putting the Lions up 21-14. PSU would add a field goal to make is 24-14, but it wasn’t until Ji’Ayir Brown picked off a pass and brought it back for a touchdown to make it 31-14 that the game truly felt like it was safe.
So, after over a month of frustration and question marks, Penn State is back in the win column. The Lions have, at a minimum, secured bowl eligibility, and perhaps have finally shaken the October monkey off their back.
Time will tell whether any of Penn State’s questions have truly been answered - two top 10 opponents remain in the final three games of the season - but for now, a win is a win!