PSU News and commentary
Last year, before the last week of the regular season I wrote this article for Onward State:
"This Season Is A Success Regardless Of The Outcome" While the circumstances are now much different, the theme remains. A 10-2 ranked PSU team is NOT a failure. Penn State, whether we want to admit it, is still growing and recovering. Read the article, no one thought thats where we were gonna be. No one thought any of that was possible, we overshot expectations by miles. And now we come into this season with WILDLY high expectations. It was all there. The hype, the rankings, looking for a repeat, and playoff revenge. We got our expectations sky high. When we got ranked #2 due to other loses? Was anyone out there really convinced we were #2 behind Alabama? Seriously, come on. Frankly put, the current ranking and standings doesn't do this team justice. Let's take a quick look at PSU's 2 losses: Ohio State: Penn State choked, admittedly. But again forget the rankings, we were underdogs. Playing in one of the toughest environments to a team who has the experience in big games. We lost by 1 point. 1. We covered the spread. 1 point to a top 10 ranked team, on the road, hardly calling that a brutal blow, no matter how disappointing it was. Michigan State: This loss is obviously a lot harder to justify. But obviously a 3 hour rain delay is not something you plan for. We didn't play great. We made mistakes. and YES the weather was a huge factor. But again, PSU lost by only 3, to a ranked team, on the road, to a coach, with tremendous experience. Yes, it seems like making excuses, but again, not a brutally terrible loss. When you break it down, if Penn State wins out, here's how it's resume will look: 10-2 The 2 Losses to both Ranked Opponents and both on the road. Margin of Defeat for the Season: 4 points. 4 points. Less than a touchdown. Separate Penn State from a perfect season, a shot at a Big Ten repeat and a Playoff spot. While absolutely crushing to us as fans. It's impossible to call this a failure, or throw in the towel. Penn State can still work its way back into a NY6 bowl with some big wins and other teams losing, which is guaranteed. Saquon Barkley can still work his way back into the Heisman lead with some big games. The next 3 weeks will help define this season.
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January 2018
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