Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1410640
W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M While it navigates a rapidly changing college sports landscape, Penn State seeks to rekindle the magic of its 2016 season F ive years ago, Penn State came roaring back from its post-sanc- tion doldrums to win the Big Ten's East Division and qualify for the league championship game. Then it came roar- ing back from a 21-point first-half deficit to defeat Wisconsin, 38-31, for the con- ference title. That was the Nittany Lions' identity in 2016. Roaring back was kind of their thing. Is it still their thing? During his appearance at Big Ten me- dia days in Indianapolis this past July, James Franklin was asked about that previous visit to Lucas Oil Stadium and whether he could envision his team get- ting back there this year while it looks to rebound from a disheartening 2020 season in which it got off to the worst start in school history and ended up with its first losing record since 2004. To no one's great surprise, Franklin affirmed that vision. "That's the goal for all of us — to get back here and play in a style that's going to give us the best opportunity to win a Big Ten championship, and then having an opportunity to represent the Big Ten and Penn State in the playoff," he said. "That's everybody's goal and objective. "We were fortunate and blessed and earned an opportunity to play for the Big Ten champi- onship and won that opportu- n i ty. I 'm biased, but it was probably one of the better Big Ten Championship Games that has been played. It came down to a fourth-down stop to win the game. So I think we understand what it takes to get here. "But at the end of the day, it's what have we done this year? What have we created this year? What have we devel- oped this season and this game?" A year ago, there were still a handful of scholarship players on the roster who had been at Penn State during that champi- onship run, a contingent that included offensive linemen Will Fries and Michal Menet, defensive ends Shaka Toney and Shane Simmons, and defensive tackle Antonio Shelton. All were true freshmen on the 2016 team. All are now gone. The Nittany Lions do have a 2016 player on their coaching staff, with for- mer offensive lineman Wendy Laurent now serving as a graduate assistant. But otherwise, there aren't any players from that team still at Penn State, and there aren't a whole lot of coaches left, either, with seven members of Franklin's 2016 staff having since departed. Of course, it isn't just the faces in the Lasch Building that have changed since the Nittany Lions' most recent Big Ten championship season. The environ- ment around the program has changed, too. Simply put, Penn State is in a very different place in 2021 than it was five years ago. During the four sanction-marred seasons that pre- ceded their joyride to the Big M A T T H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M RETURN ENGAGEMENT O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1 3 9 S P E C I A L S E C T I O N B I G T E N P R E V I E W