Penn State, for the fifth time in Franklin’s 10 seasons at the helm, has won 10 games or more. He’s made as many New Year’s Six-equivalent games in the past 10 seasons as the Lions had in the previous 20 years. If you include the aforementioned Peach Bowl that just took place, Penn State has played in one more such game than the previous 20 seasons.
Yet, the frustration of being every so close to the finish line, but never quite getting there, is just as justified as the acknowledgement that being in this position, in the first place, is still an outstanding accomplishment, one that few programs enjoy.
The story of how the season ended is one that we’ve seen before. Penn State, on the backs of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, ran the ball for 7 yards a pop to start the game. The defense pressured Jaxon Dart, who made some errant throws early, and, in a key moment in the game, nearly fumbled the ball away in its own territory. That call would be overturned, and, from that moment, the Ole Miss offense adjusted.
Dart started getting rid of the ball a lot quicker, and, with two new concerns tasked with the job of facing against the talented receivers on the other end, the Lions started getting burned on the edge. Each time the defense closed in on the quarterback, Dart found one of his two favorite targets of the day. Each time, it was for a big gain, usually on third down.
Penn State, on the other hand, could not adjust on offense. When the Rebels started to stack the box to prevent Singleton and Allen from gashing them, the receivers were nowhere to be found. Tyler Warren, and to a lesser extent Theo Johnson, did everything they could to help the passing game, but, a receiver wouldn’t make a single catch in this game until the fourth quarter, and by that time, Mississippi had already done all the damage.
The game ended in the exact same way the previous two losses did. Down big, the offense started chucking the ball around, calling quick plays that forced Drew Allar to make a throw without thinking much. It led to a late touchdown that made the score look better than it was, but, once again, it was too little too late.
Unlike last season, there won’t be too much hype going into the next year. That will rightfully belong to Ole Miss. But, the silver lining, if there is one, is that hunger does a lot of things for people, and having the feeling of unfinished business might motivate some offensive players to put in the work necessary to make the offense tick.
That, and, of course, two new coordinators will try to get the most out of what the team has, while supplementing with what’s available in the portal.
For the rest of us, we spend the offseason wondering what could have been. But also, we get to wonder, what could be.
Happy offseason!
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