Sure, just because Penn State is under sanctions doesn’t mean that James Franklin and company are above being criticized.
But “amazingly”* the lowest point of the crippling sanction era is a football team that is very beatable and not particularly good at anything (aside from defense). So maybe Franklin could have done something different in each of Penn State’s five losses this season, and maybe they could have called different plays, but it’s hard to see that making a huge impact on the fundamental issues the program faces.
As Franklin is fond of saying, “winning masks your issues while losing exposes them.” In Penn State’s case, win or lose, the issues are still there and those issues go beyond simply deciding to punt on 4th and short.
So considering that Penn State has had to win two games this season in the final minutes, has won three of the five sanction era overtime games and has managed to win at all should be good enough for fans. Because the alternative — losing even more — was only a missed field goal or bad pass away from being even more evident.
Don’t believe things could have been worse? Look at the numbers.
Penn State has gone 21-14 since 2012 with two games to go before the biggest sanctions are removed. Compared to the so called “Dark Years” of 2000-2004 it’s a walk in the park — the Nittany Lions went 26-33 over that five year span.
In the rest of the conference, only five teams have done better than Penn State since 2012: Ohio State, Michigan State, Nebraska, Wisconsin and rising Minnesota. Three of those programs have won the conference in recent years while Nebraska and Minnesota have both proven to be serious contenders. That’s not a bad collection of teams to be on par with.
The rest of the conference? Maybe they’re the ones who have been sanctioned.
Michigan has gone 20-17 over that span, Purdue a whopping 10-26. To expand the Wolverines’ struggles even further, Michigan has had five seasons of six or more losses over the past seven seasons. Penn State: A loss away from two seasons hitting that mark in seven years. In total nine Big Ten teams have lost more games than Penn State since 2012.
If the Nittany Lions manage to finish the season 1-1 in their final two games, they’ll have played each season of the sanction era over .500, something that even the most reasonable critics had a hard time foreseeing. And maybe that’s more important for the program in the long haul than any inconsequential loss to Illinois.
Because while you, the Penn State fan, might not be having fun losing, you could be a fan of six other Big Ten teams that have done worse than your sanctioned, caged, and hobbled Nittany Lions.
Big Ten Wins Since 2012 (Rutgers(21-15) and Maryland (13-24) with two years out of conference)
Ohio State: 34-3
Michigan State: 29-9
Nebraska: 27-11
Wisconsin: 26-12
Minnesota: 22-15
Penn State: 21-14
Rutgers: 21-15
Northwestern: 20-16
Michigan: 20-17
Iowa: 19-17
Maryland: 13-24
Indiana: 12-23
Illinois: 11-24
Purdue: 10-26
*Apply sarcasm font.
