PENN STATE AND SMU FOOTBALL POST SIGNATURE WINS
October 23rd, 2016
James Franklin, head ball coach for the Penn State University Nittany Lions, just had his first signature win Saturday against Urban Meyer’s #2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. ‘Twas the annual “white out” game in Happy Valley and all through the stadium the faithful were clad in white. The Lions were a 20 point underdog according to the boys in Vegas. Penn State actually had negative yards in the 3rd quarter of the game and started the 4th with a 14 point deficit at a score of 21-7. However, the offense stuffed in a touchdown (TD) and then they used special teams magic to block a punt leading to a field goal and also blocked a subsequent Buckeye field goal attempt to scoop and score another TD. The Lion’s defense rose to the occasion and held OSU scoreless in the 4th quarter to secure the win. This was James Franklin’s first win over a top 25 ranked team as the Penn State head coach. It was also the program’s first victory against a top 10 team since the ominous NCAA sanctions related to the Jerry Sandusky scandal were imposed in 2012. Sanctions levied by the NCAA without due process and levied against the players even though they had nothing to do with the actions of one of the school’s former coaches who they had never met. For a team still rebuilding after having its ranks decimated to capture a win against an undefeated #2 ranked team signals that they can play with, and beat anyone out there. They will still need to win a Big Ten title or go to a Rose Bowl before we can truly say that Penn State has fully clawed its way back out of the long dark tunnel and stepped fully into the bright lights of college football stardom. But this was a few claw marks in the right direction……
Southern Methodist University (SMU) also had a signature win on Saturday defeating the #11 ranked Houston Cougars by 38-16 margin. SMU had to wait even longer for their first win over a top 15 team since the last time they claimed that prize was way back in 1986. SMU was a clear underdog in their home game against the Cougars but dominated through all four quarters. NCAA “death penalty” sanctions for payments to players were handed down from on-high in 1987 and were far harsher that those issued to Penn State but in similar fashion these two programs recaptured some of their former glory, if only for a moment in time.