Penn State, SMU are both trying to reshape history before CFP debuts

DaQuan Jones remembers the chaos. Uncertainty. Penalties. The result.

How could he not? He and his Penn State teammates — the ones who stuck around anyway — lived it up.

Jones was a sophomore defensive tackle in the fall of 2011 when the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal brought one of college football’s blue bloods to its knees and sent revered coach Joe Paterno into exile.

It felt like a point of comment.

“This program could have done everything it could and completely underperformed,” Jones said.

Only, it didn’t. While others left for a fresh start, Jones was among those who stayed put. Bill O’Brien took on the impossible task of changing the icon. The walk-on filled the void left by the NCAA’s cut in scholarships as part of a collapse that rocked the state’s premier institution to its foundation.

Things were very fragile. Yet in those uncertain times, the Nittany Lions began the rebuilding process, knowing exactly what was at stake.

The memories are still fresh for Jones, now an 11-year NFL veteran in his third season as the Buffalo Bills’ starter. He’s kept a close eye on his alma mater since graduating in 2014, and he could draw a line from the rubble of a post-Sandusky-sorted program to the opportunity that awaits Penn State on Saturday when the sixth-seeded Nittany Lions (11-) 2) host 11th-seeded SMU (11-2) in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

“I think it all starts with that strong foundation of guys that stayed there in 2012,” he said. “I am happy to see this program doing well.

Penn State’s first invitation to the playoffs will serve as another appeal for current coach James Franklin to a passionate fan base tired of the program being on the fringes of the national championship conversation. For former players now spread across the NFL and around the world, it will be a celebration.

“The dark shadow of Penn State, it’s good to finally come out of that,” said Connor McGovern, an offensive lineman on the 2016 team that won the Big Ten title and “started to change the narrative.”

Sandusky is far from being forgotten – he was convicted again five years ago, and still maintains his innocence – the university has worked hard to restore the reputation of the program as a place where players compete on the field and graduate from it, knowing something was wrong. will be raised.

That’s why men pull vintage blue-and-white sweaters over their shoulder pads with a deep appreciation for what it took to get to this point and how far it may have once seemed.

“Coach O’Brien helped stabilize that program,” said Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth, a three-year starter for the Nittany Lions. “It was hard work to be able to keep the guys and keep things at a decent level. And coach Franklin was able to build it, and I just appreciate being a part of that family.”

Penn State won’t be the only team running onto the field at Beaver Stadium carrying the weight of history.

SMU was a national power in the early 1980s – the Mustangs went 11-0-1 in 1982 only to finish No.

While the Nittany Lions remained competitive as they rebuilt, SMU went a century between bowl games and more than 30 years between appearances in the AP Top 25. This season, SMU became the first former Group of Five team to go undefeated. first year in a major conference as it stormed to the ACC title game.

This fading of success can feel new. It was born, however, from what third-year coach Rhett Lashlee described as “several decades of hard work” by predecessors like June Jones and Sonny Dykes.

“It’s like the pickle jar effect,” Lashlee said. “Everyone was trying to remove the lid, but they didn’t remove it. But when we got here, we were able to close the lid because a lot of work has been done by many before.”

It’s the same now at Penn State. If the CFP had gone to 12 teams since its inception in 2014, the Nittany Lions would have been in the running. No school has finished in the top 12 of the final CFP rankings without making the playoffs than Penn State.

And yes, those who were part of the near miss can’t help but think about what could have been.

“We were going to do really well every year, which would have been nice to hear,” said Sean Clifford, a four-year starter at quarterback from 2019-22 whose younger brother Liam is the youngest receiver on this year’s team.

The elderly Clifford, who is now a member of the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad, added that he holds no grudges, laughing and revealing that “when [are] A lot of things have changed in the NCAA that I would have liked.”

One of the things that hasn’t changed at State College is the way Franklin does his job. More than a dozen former Nittany Lions now in the NFL interviewed by the Associated Press pointed to his leadership as one of the reasons Penn State pulled itself back from the brink.

“He cares about us a lot,” said offensive lineman Jordan Stout, who is now with the Baltimore Ravens. “You know your mother. You know your father. You know your brother, sister, cousin, third cousin.”

Miami Dolphins rookie linebacker Chop Robinson praised Franklin for treating his players like men “if you approach everything like a man. … That’s what I loved about him.”

Robinson and others are feeling the criticism of Franklin, who is 1-14 against top 10 teams in his 11-year tenure.

“If they don’t get far, I think everybody’s going to be like, ‘shoot Franklin, shoot Franklin,'” Stout said. “Obviously that’s not the right call in my opinion.”

There will be more than enough pressure on Franklin, 52, on Saturday. Then, you are used to the weight. The problems he is facing now are the kind he could only dream of in Jan. 11, 2014, when he committed to his press conference to introduce “building this plan.” [to] where everybody wants to be.”

Now that it’s almost there, Jones wonders if maybe it’s time to focus on the widening gap between the Nittany Lions and the top, but the gulf didn’t go well to get here.

Yes, you are well aware of the loss that seems to be a heavy burden every year in the Ohio States of the world. However, he remembers the play of those sanctioned teams who were in the thick of it when the wounds of the Sandusky layoffs were still fresh.

Those teams hung in there and left so the current Nittany Lions could make a run. If and when Penn State finds itself playing deep in January, Jones knows the first steps were taken not this fall, but long before.

“That’s a testament to what Penn State is all about,” Jones said. “People who work hard [who] I work every day, I put [their] look down, don’t look for glory and go out there and collect wins.”

It is reported by the Associated Press.

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