It’s been an eventful week for the Penn State football team, starting with the gut-wrenching loss to Michigan and the firing of offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.
Through it all, the Nittany Lions have tried to maintain their mindset of getting better every day.
“Regardless of what our record looks like or how things might have changed, our standard as a team hasn’t changed,” tight end Theo Johnson said. “We take pride in being a Penn State football team and what that means.
“Just because we’ve lost two games doesn’t mean that standard is going to change or needs to change.”
No. 12 Penn State (5-2 Big Ten, 8-2) is looking to finish strongly, beginning against Rutgers (3-4, 6-4) Saturday at noon (TV-FS1) at Beaver Stadium.
The Lions want to celebrate Senior Day with their 17th consecutive victory over the improved Scarlet Knights. They can move closer to a New Year’s Six bowl berth and their fifth season with at least 10 wins in eight years.
“As competitors, you live to fight another day,” cornerback Johnny Dixon said. “I know the season’s not over. I want to go out there and get better. I want to do as much as we can possibly do.”
Dixon is one of five Penn State players who can’t return next season because their eligibility expires. The others are center Hunter Nourzad, safety Keaton Ellis, kicker Alex Felkins and punter Riley Thompson.
Twenty other players who can return also will be recognized during pregame ceremonies. They include 12 players who have started at least three games: offensive tackles Olu Fashanu and Caedan Wallace, guard Sal Wormley, tight ends Johnson and Tyler Warren, wide receivers KeAndre Lambert-Smith and Dante Cephas, defensive tackles Hakeem Beamon and Dvon Ellies, defensive end Adisa Isaac, linebacker Curtis Jacobs and cornerback Daequan Hardy.
“Our players talk a lot about when they come here as a freshman or as a transfer how good from a cultural standpoint our vets are,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “It’s not like that everywhere. There’s a pretty good sense of appreciation and respect throughout the locker room for those guys, wanting to send them out the right way.”
Dixon, who’s from Tampa, Fla., transferred from South Carolina before the 2021 season and has started 24 games since he arrived. Franklin has said more than once that Dixon has not received enough recognition for how he’s played this season.
“This is no shade to South Carolina,” Dixon said, “but I didn’t feel the same pride in that locker room that I do walking around at Penn State. It’s a certain pride and attitude we have here. We don’t accept people who live under a certain standard. That’s what makes it different.”
The Lions endured something this week that hasn’t happened at Penn State in at least many decades, if ever, a midseason firing of an assistant coach.
Franklin dismissed Yurcich one day after a 24-15 loss to unbeaten Michigan in which the Lions passed for just 74 yards, the fewest in Franklin’s 10 seasons.
Running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider and tight ends coach Ty Howle will share play-calling duties the rest of the season, Seider from the sideline and Howle from the coaches booth in the press box.
Nourzad said the coaches and players have tried to make the transition smooth.
“It’s kind of built into our culture,” he said, “that every day we come with the same mindset, to work as hard as we can, prepare as much as we can and just get ready for the next Saturday.”
Rutgers, coached by former Penn State assistant Greg Schiano, has reached six wins for the first time since 2014 and has become bowl eligible.
The Scarlet Knights, trying to avoid a third straight loss, have a stout defense that ranks 13th nationally in total yards allowed and 19th in points allowed. But their offense has struggled, gaining just 127 total yards and seven first downs last week in a 22-0 loss at Iowa.
The Lions, meanwhile, would like to rebound from their 12th straight defeat to a Big Ten opponent ranked in the top 10.
“We have to regain our focus, regain our confidence,” Dixon said. “I wouldn’t say we lost confidence, but I would say it’s humbling when we had the plans we had. We’ve got to go out there and still put on a show.”
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Rich Scarcella’s Pick >> Penn State 31, Rutgers 10
Much depends on whether the Nittany Lions are focused or sleepy. It’ll be interesting to watch how the new play-callers utilize personnel. The Scarlet Knights are improved, but they’re playing their second straight road game against a physical defense. Expect them to put up a fight before Penn State eventually subdues them.
Source: Berkshire mont
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