When the story of the 2025 college football season is written, the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl between Penn State and Clemson will hardly be a footnote. As many bowl games have become in the College Football Playoff era, it was hardly more than a meaningless exhibition for two teams who entered the season with national title aspirations, but don’t tell that to Terry Smith.
In his final game as Penn State’s interim head coach before returning to an assistant coach role under newly hired head coach Matt Campbell, Smith led his alma mater to a 22-10 win over the Tigers. The victory helped close out the year on a four-game win streak after beginning his tenure 0-3 amid a six-game losing streak for the program that led to James Franklin’s firing.
“We could have very well quit, but they didn’t. They chose another path,” Smith said on the field postgame. “I love this group. They’re just a special group of guys that uh,” Smith paused, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion, “This is the greatest moment of my life.”
Terry Smith finishes interim ternure on four-game win streak with 22-10 win over Clemson
It’s been an emotional end to the season with Smith at the helm, one of the greatest wide receivers in program history, and a PA native. When asked what brings up that emotion, a teary Smith had a response that only further cements his place as a Nittany Lion legend.
“I love Penn State. I love football, and the game and Penn State have done amazing things for me and my family. I’m just thankful and grateful.”
That appreciation has been reciprocated by the fanbase for the entire second half of the season. As Smith began to string together victories, first beating Michigan State, then downing Nebraska and Rutgers, momentum began to build among fans and boosters for him to have the interim title removed.
Smith was a candidate to take over as the program’s full-time head coach before Campbell was ultimately hired. Although he lost out on the job, he opted to stay on the staff and was given a raise, becoming the highest-paid non-coordinator among college football assistants. Though the chants were no longer a plea to athletic director Pat Kraft to end the coaching search, Nittany Lion fans who made the trip to Yankee Stadium on Saturday showered Smith with “Terry, Terry, Terry,” chants in the final minutes of the game.
Penn State is entering a new era as a program, but Smith, who starred in the blue and white from 1988-91 and first joined the staff in 2014 in Franklin’s first year, is there to help bridge the gap. It’s hard to imagine someone more passionate about that particular task.