It’s been 1,398 days since Penn State was ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 college football rankings.
Jan. 2, 2012, to be exact. (No. 22 heading into the TicketCity Bowl.)
That was 46 games ago.
The streak should change Sunday afternoon, when the latest rankings for the AP and USA Today Coaches polls are released.
The mere thought made a couple of Penn State football players grin after they defeated Illinois, 39-0, Saturday afternoon in Beaver Stadium to up their record to 4-1 in the Big Ten East and 7-2 overall.
Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki was a junior volleyball and basketball standout for Southern Regional High School in New Jersey the last time Penn State was in the Top 25. When it happens again, Gesicki doesn’t mind telling you it would be something special – even if standard sport PR-speak convention says he shouldn’t.
Gesicki’s not that way, anyway. He’s a honest and good-natured player, who revels in the game and its many moments and feels the highs and lows of the game perhaps more deeply than any of his 100-plus teammates. So a slot in the Top 25 is, admittedly, a big deal for him.
“Everyone says you’re not supposed to pay attention or that it’s not supposed to mean anything to you,” Gesicki said, “but if you get ranked in there it’s a something to be proud. It’s a huge confidence boost for the team. Every team in the country works to make the Top 25.
“People can say, ‘Oh, no, it doesn’t mean anything, keep playing your game.’ But it means something when you do get ranked. That number next to your team? That’s huge.”
Likewise for Nick Scott, another of the more emotional Nittany Lions, who plays with a smile and spirit equal to that of Gesicki. Scott, a running back who experienced the high of throwing a 14-yard TD pass to quarterback Christian Hackenberg on Saturday, was a junior at Fairrfax (Va.) High School the last time was PSU was ranked in the Top 25.
It’s been 1,398 days, Nick.
“Really? I didn’t know that. That’s special,” said Scott, a bit bug-eyed before he broke into a big grin. “It would be great. I’m sure it would look great next to our name on TV. But we’re going to approach it the same way – whether we’re the last-place team or the first-place team, and just try to go 1-0 next week.”
Brian Gaia was a senior at the Gillman School in Maryland the last time Penn State was ranked in the Top 25. Gaia came to Penn State in the fall of 2012, redshirted that season, then saw action at defensive tackle in all 12 games of the 2013 season.
Since then, he’s made 21 starts at guard for the Nittany Lions. A senior with eligibility to play again in 2016, Gaia has seen it all over the past four seasons. What he’d like to see now is turn on ESPN and see his team ranked.
“It’s always cool when you look at ESPN and check out the scores and the Top 25 and you’re on there,” said Gaia. “We don’t think about that stuff, but it’s cool when you see it happen.”
8 OF THE LAST 10
When the AP releases its weekly poll results, Penn State should be back in the Top 25 – and maybe at the expense of Commonwealth cronies to the left and/or right. Possibly displacing Pitt, a loser to North Carolina on Thursday. Or maybe transplanting Temple, which faces Notre Dame Saturday night.
Counting their 31-30 win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl, Penn State has won eight of its last 10 games, and boasts a stifling and sacking defense, a born-again star at quarterback and a bona fide leaping super hero at running back. And then there’s a very winnable game at Northwestern next week, which is important for the AP balloters, who might like to see their vote of confidence for Penn State last more than a week.
The Nittany Lions did garner the attention of some voters earlier in the season, after starting out 5-1. In Week 7, Penn State got four votes in the AP, good enough for 36th, and six votes in the USA Today Coaches poll, to rank No. 34.
The closet Penn State got to cracking the Top 25 since their last appearance to start the new year in 2012 was on Sept. 21, 2014. They were 4-0 to start James Franklin’s first season at Penn State, including a season-opening 26-24 victory over Central Florida in Dublin and a 13-10 fourth-quarter thriller at night against Rutgers.
The Top 25 official rankings are always followed by those “Also receiving votes” and last September, Penn State was the second-team in the “also” category – essentially ranked 27th overall, behind Duke in the AP poll and Oklahoma State in the USA Today poll.
