It’s been a long and grinding road for Penn State in 2024. And it’s not over yet. So far, the Nittany Lions have not just survived and advanced despite a quintet of comeback wins, a host of injuries and one key defection. It is now the 15th game in, and they have thrived.
The transfer portal. Cutting NIL deals. Onboarding players. Final exams. Title games and playoff games. Cold weather. Travel. Holiday plans. Rapid-fire new opponents.
“It’s harder than ever to do it all,” offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said on Thursday, a day before No. 6 Penn State (12-2) travels to Arizona to play No. 3 Boise State (12-1) in the Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 31. “We’re all tired and playing game 15 here or whatever it is. We’ve been here together every day since, whatever, the end of July. But that’s what we signed up for. We’re competing for a national championship one game at a time here.
“We were talking yesterday because we had practice. We said, ‘Where would you rather be?’ If someone said in July, ‘Hey, we’re going to be practicing on Christmas because we’re playing for a national championship in the playoffs,’ people would have signed up immediately, saying, ‘Hell, yeah.’ There are a lot of people that aren’t doing press conferences today because they’re not playing anymore. We’re fortunate and blessed to be doing that.
“There are moments where we need to keep the main thing the main thing. As tired as we are, we need to enjoy what we’re doing here, and we are. We’re having a great time doing it.”
THE ROAD TO NO. 1
So, how long has been the journey to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff for Penn State? Let us count the ways:
864,665 FANS — That’s a Beaver Stadium single-season attendance record. It’s an average of 108,083 fans for eight home games in 2024, a program record since Beaver Stadium was built in 1960. (Previous record: 867,911 for eight games in 2002.) Penn State ranked No. 2 in the nation in average home attendance in 2024, trailing only Michigan, at 110,548. The home playoff game crowd of 106,013 vs. SMU helped — in so many ways.
325 DAYS — That’s the number of days since Penn State began its prep for the 2024 season with the official start of winter workouts on Monday, Feb. 5. It’s been 257 days since the Blue-White Game on Saturday, April 13. It’s been 148 days since the start of official summer preseason practice on Wednesday, July 31. And it’s been 117 days since the season-opener at West Virginia on Saturday, Aug. 31.
122 DAYS — By the New Year’s Eve kickoff on Tuesday, the actual season will have covered 122 days. That is the second-longest, calendar-wise, Penn State football season in the program’s 135-year history. The 1996 season lasted 129 days, beginning with the season-opening 24-7 win over USC in Giants Stadium on Aug. 25 and ending in the Fiesta Bowl, with a 38-15 victory over Texas on Jan. 1, 1997.
92 CATCHES — Tyler Warren, tight end et al, has 92 receptions for 1,095 yards and six TDs in 2024. That’s five more catches than the six Penn State wide receivers who have had at least one reception in 2024 combined (87 overall, led by Trey Wallace, with 43). Warren is averaging 11.9 yards per catch, and ranks No. 11 on Penn State’s all-time receptions list, just behind Derek Moye, with 144, and Parker Washington, with 146.)
15 GAMES — Penn State, now 12-2, has played 14 games in one season — tying a PSU record, thanks to its appearance in the Big Ten championship game (a 45-37 loss to Oregon) and the CFP. The Nittany Lions also played 14 games in 2016, when they won the Big Ten title game over Wisconsin and then lost to USC in the Rose Bowl to finish 11-3.
13 OF 16 FIELD GOALS — Since Ryan Barker took over from Sander Sahaydak as the Nittany Lions’ No. 1 field goal kicker, beginning in Week 5 vs. UCLA, he has made 13 of 16 field goal attempts, including a 36-yard game-winner to beat USC, 33-30, in overtime in the L.A. Coliseum. (Sahaydak is 2 of 5, including a pair of misses against Illinois that cost him the No. 1 job). Barker is 41 of 42 in PATs on the season.
12 WINS — The Nittany Lions have won 12 games for only the fourth time in their 135 seasons of playing college football. The others were 12-0 seasons in 1973, 1986 and 1994.
7 AND 8 — Penn State’s only losses in 2024 have been in one-score games to fellow Big Ten Conference members still in the playoff hunt. The Nittany Lions fell 20-13 in the B10 regular season to No. 8-ranked Ohio State, 42-17 winners over Tennessee in the CFP first round, The Buckeyes will play Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 10. The Nittany Lions also lost to the No. 1-ranked Ducks (12-0).
7 ROAD/NEUTRAL SITE GAMES – That counts the Fiesta Bowl, all in different states. PSU has played in Morgantown, W.Va.; Los Angeles; Madison, Wis.; West Lafayette, Ind.; Minneapolis, Minn., Indianapolis, Ind., and now Glendale, Ariz.
5 COME-FROM-BEHIND WINS — The Nittany Lions came back to win after trailing against Bowling Green (24-17, 2Q), Illinois (7-0, 1Q), USC (six times, including 17-13, 2Q, and 30-23, 4Q); Wisconsin (10-7, halftime); and Minnesota (four times, including 22-16, 3Q).
4 WHITE OUTS (or reasonable facsimiles) — In Beaver Stadium in 2024, there was the “official” regular-season White Out vs. Washington. There was the White Out “energy” game that James Franklin called for vs. Illinois. There was the Stripe Out game against UCLA. And then there was the CFP White Out last Saturday vs. SMU.
2 DEPARTURES — Two Nittany Lion backups left the team during the season. First, there was defensive tackle Hakeem Beamon. Then, on Dec. 16 (the Monday of the SMU game), backup quarterback Beau Pribula announced he was leaving Happy Valley for the transfer portal. He has since emerged at the University of Missouri, $1.5 million the richer.
1 BIG TEN TITLE GAME — Totally unexpected, as far as Penn State was concerned. And it has made the season longer, at least on the field. Until Ohio State buckeye’d it up by losing 13-10 to semi-woeful Michigan on Nov. 30 at The Horseshoe, Ryan Day & Co. were looking at a Big Ten rematch with Oregon in the Big Ten Championship game on Dec. 7. Penn State stepped in, and though the Ducks jumped out to a 28-10 lead, the Nittany Lions never folded and made a game of it until the final two minutes.
MANY INJURIES — It started early with the loss of safety Kevin Winston, who starred in the season opener at West Virginia and who is now committed to the NFL Draft. Add in the heavy losses of two starters along the line, D-tackle Alonzo Ford and O-tackle Anthony Donkoh in the Minnesota game. Punt returner/wide receiver Kaden Saunders made a few cameo appearances, but was never himself. Running back hopeful Cam Wallace flashed big, but is now out for the year, as is promising tight end Andrew Rappleyea. And though it was not an injury, the loss of Pribula certainly hurt. A lot. But…the Nittany Lions have played on.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID ON THURSDAY
Quarterback Drew Allar on limited time for bowl prep: “Obviously, last year, we had an extended time to prepare for the Peach Bowl. But this year, it was a quicker turnaround, just with the Big Ten Championship, and then playing two weeks later. It’s a little bit just shorter in general. But at the end of the day, I love that we’re a process-oriented team and our process drives the way we function as a program. For us, it wasn’t really anything different, which I like, because it’s our normal routine and habits. It wasn’t much different for me personally, but it was just probably a bit of a quicker turnaround than it was compared to last year.”
Tight end Tyler Warren on staying fresh: “Staying on top of just recovery stuff, any little thing you can is a big help. It takes a toll, but you’re kind of just in the groove of it and the routine of the season. You’re used to waking up and feeling how you feel, however that is. But doing whatever you can during the day — getting in the [cold] tub, stuff like that, little things to give you an edge, but also understanding that everybody is in the same situation as you. So it’s not really an excuse to have. It’s just something you’ve got to deal with in this sport.”
Running back Nick Singleton on staying healthy: “I’m always in the treatment room. Every time you’re hurt, being there, getting in the ice tubs. Taking care of your body most importantly and making sure you eat right. The coaches know, Week 15, everybody is beat up a little bit. The [practice] reps went down a little bit, but still doing your job, being more dialed in what we’re trying to do. It’s been really good, man. We’re just ready.”
