Penn State’s Greatest Seasons: 2016

An unexpected season became one of the greatest seasons for Penn State football in 2016.

We have finally reached the conclusion of VBR’s look back at Penn State football’s greatest seasons. What made the 2016 season one of the best was how unexpected it was. Most preseason predictions had Penn State finishing in the middle of the Big Ten East division. Many of the sports media’s talking heads thought the Nittany Lions were at least a year away from contending. The same could be said about the opinions of the fanbase, myself included.

Let’s take one last look back at the magical run that was 2016 and relish it all over again.

A rough September

Penn State entered the season with questions again along the offensive and defensive lines in addition to breaking in a new starting quarterback, Trace McSorley. They had a new offensive coordinator in Joe Moorhead and a new defensive coordinator in Brent Pry. Too many questions for anybody to view the Lions as a contender from the onset.

After an opening week win over Kent State 33-13 at home, the Lions traveled to Pittsburgh to renew their rivalry with the Panthers. After being down 28-7 about midway through the second quarter, Penn State had a furious comeback but would come up just short when a McSorley pass was intercepted in the end zone to end the game 42-39 in favor of Pitt.

More from Victory Bell Rings

The Lions would shake the loss off with a less than convincing home victory against Temple, but the injuries on defense were starting to add up. What followed was a nightmarish afternoon in Ann Arbor. Nothing went right for Penn State and more injuries occurred as the Lions were run out of the Big House to the tune of 49-10. The Lions vowed a loss like that would not happen again.

A signature win for James Franklin

The following week after the Michigan debacle, the Nittany Lions found themselves in a hole at halftime, down 13-3 against Minnesota. Some in the home crowd were starting to chant “Fire Franklin”. This is when the season could have collapsed. However, the Penn State rebounded in the second half, outscoring the Gophers 17-0 in the third quarter and eventually forcing overtime. After a Gopher field goal, one of the best plays of the season happened. (Video courtesy of Big Ten Network)

Even after that win, many were not convinced with undefeated Maryland coming to Happy Valley. The Terps and Lions split the teams first two meetings as Big Ten foes, each with a one point victory. However, there would be no doubt in 2016 who the better team was as the Lions won running away, 38-14.

After a bye week, the big test would come in the form of the second ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in front of a raucous White Out crowd. The Lions offense was mostly stuck in neutral for the first three quarters and they found themselves down 21-7. Then perhaps one of the most amazing 15 minutes of football in Penn State history happened, as the Lions outscored the Buckeyes 17-0 including this as the game winner. Feel free to play on continuous loop because it never gets old. (Video courtesy of Big Ten Network)

The winning continues, culminating in a championship

After the upset of the Buckeyes, Penn State was ranked for the first time in nearly five years. The Lions would continue to roll through the rest of their schedule, dominating the likes of Purdue, Iowa, Rutgers and Michigan State. The team would really catch on in the second halves of games and they were one of most entertaining teams in the country to watch.

On the last Saturday of the regular season, Penn State would need a victory against the Spartans and a Michigan loss to Ohio State in order to win the Big Ten East. Sure enough, the scenario played out and the Lions were headed to Indianapolis to face the Wisconsin Badgers for the Big Ten championship.

In the title game, the Lions would again find themselves in a big hole, down 28-7 with about five minutes to play in the first half. But as they proved once again, this group of Lions would never quit. (Video courtesy Big Ten Network)

The Granddaddy of Them All

As Big Ten champions and 11-2 overall, Penn State had a case to be one of the teams in the College Football Playoff. However they were snubbed in favor of a team they beat, Ohio State. That aside, they still earned a trip to Pasadena to face USC in the Rose Bowl.

USC and Penn State put on quite a show for everyone watching. The Rose Bowl was probably the best bowl game of the season besides the national championship game. Saquon Barkley delivered one of the best plays of his career with this beauty, breaking Trojan ankles along the way. (Video courtesy of Ryan Patterson)

Despite Penn State coming up three points short in the 52-49 loss, the 2016 season was a very successful one. The Lions put themselves back on the national scene just 4 years removed from devastating sanctions. Even though the 1994 offense was more powerful, the 2016 offense was so fun to watch. Most of the all, James Franklin now has the Lions poised for even greater things in 2017 and beyond. Penn State football is back and better than ever.

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