Penn State Survives The First Storm Surge

Penn State University was rocked by the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal followed by the strict sanctions against their football program.  As you probably know three of the biggest penalties brought against the Nittany Lions were a 4 year bowl ban, 20% scholarship reduction, and current players on the roster can transfer anywhere and can play immediately for another school.

Ten players opted to leave prior to the 2012 season.  Three of Penn State's biggest impact players, Silas Redd, Justin Brown, and Anthony Fera were among those leaving the program.  Can you blame them? Winning and success did not seem like very likely for the next few years for the men dressed in blue and white. 

Knowing the pride of Penn State it was not surprising to see the other players who stayed band together and fight like they have never fought before.  Two players who lead this band of brothers were Michael Mauti and Michael Zordich. Though the 2012 team was tight-knit and playing with a chip on it's shoulder they were still not expected to compete well in the Big Ten Conference.

The season began and it seemed the doubters were going to be right.  Penn State stated with a disappointing loss to Ohio University at home in Beaver Stadium.  They followed up the opening loss with another frustrating loss to the University of Virginia.

After just 2 games the Lions already sat at 0-2 and it seemed like it was going to be a long bumpy road for Penn State in the 2012 campaign.  Against Ohio University the lack of Silas Redd was evident as the Lions only rushed for a total of 92 yards.  The rushing attack didn't get much better against Virginia when they tallied 121 yards on the ground.  The absence of Anthony Fera was evident in the game against Virginia when Sam Ficken missed 4 field goals and the Lions only lost by 1 point.

After such a dismal start nobody would have predicted Penn State would win 8 out of their remaining 10 games to finish at 8-4 on the season.  That type of result makes you wonder how good this team might have been if Redd, Brown, and Fera had stayed.

Now that the regular season is over it makes you wonder how those 3 impact players feel about their choice to transfer.

Silas Redd (Running Back) transferred to USC and many thought USC could be a BCS Championship contender in 2012 with his addition.  Some may have thought his chances to be a Heisman Trophy candidate were in the near future.   Now that the regular season is over most people would be surprised to learn that Penn State finished with a better record than the Trojans as USC finished 7-5.  Another surprise is Zach Zwinak ran for 1000 yards and had 177 yards receiving for the Nittany Lions.  Why are those stats surprising?   First off Zwinak didn't really play in the first 3 games of the season.  The other reason it is surprising that Zach had success in 2012 is he had a total of 7 yards rushing in 2011 and he was on nobody's radar for the 2012 season.  Silas Redd in contrast rushed for 817 yards and had 99 yards receiving.  Silas went from Penn State's star and probably their best player to USC's most productive running back but was definitely not thought of as their best player.  817 rushing yards was down from over 1200 yards he rushed for in 2011 for the Nittany Lions. 

Anthony Fera (Kicker) transferred to play for the Texas Longhorrns.  Fera had a less productive year for Texas because of an injury.  His replacement at Penn State was Sam Ficken.  Sam was a disappointment early in the season, but started to gain confidence and accuracy as the season wore on.  Fera can be happy that his Texas Longhorns went 8-3 with only Kansas State left to play and then most likely on to a very good bowl game to finish the 2012 season.

Justin Brown (Wide Receiver) transferred to play for the Oklahoma Sooners.  The Sooners are 9-2 with only TCU left on their schedule then most likely off to a very good bowl game.  Justin ranked 2nd among Sooner receivers in 2012 with 795 yards and 4 Touchdowns with 1 game remaining on the schedule.   His replacement was a big surprise at Penn State.  Allen Robinson only had 29 yards receiving in 2011.  2012 Robinson took the Big Ten by storm racking up 1018 yards receiving and 11 Touchdowns.  Brown has done well for the Sooners but it makes you wonder how well he might have done in Penn State's new offensive scheme directed and designed by Bill O'Brien (PSU's new head coach).  Robinson was not the only player to benefit from the new offensive attack.  Quarterback Matthew McGloin threw for over 3200 yards and 24 touchdowns on the season.  Imagine how dangerous the Lions could have been with Brown on one side of the formation with Robinson on the other wing.

Some may say these three transfers made the right decision for their futures in the NFL, but with the stats above you have to wonder if that is really the case.  There are still a handful of Nittany Lion players who are going to have no problems getting to play at the next level such as:  Jordan Hill, Gerald Hodges, Michael Mauti, Michael Zordich, Kyle Carter, and Allen Robinson.

Needless to say Penn State will continue to be competitive even in the next few years while they are under sanctions.  It will be most interesting to see how successful they will be once the sanctions are over.  Penn State should be congratulated on a fantastic 2012 campaign especially after losing these 3 impact players.