A look back at the 2014 loss against Ohio State and how the 31-24 double overtime defeat may not have been a total waste. As a child of a family of Penn Staters, I’ve seen a few generations of Nittany Lion rivalries roll through my household. My dad’s remains Notre Dame. Mine, Ohio State. Temple can probably be a close second after that, but Ohio State has been my Public Enemy No. 1 since before I started at Penn State in 2011. My college career began with a surprise win over Ohio State, Penn State’s first win without Joe Paterno since 1965, and I was hoping it would end with one in 2014. The Buckeyes were at the peak of their strength — and hate-ability — then. The year prior, Urban Meyer and his lack of empathy was the cause of Penn State’s worst loss in more than 100 years. Ohio State fans and their self-righteous ways put them just under the Pittsburgh Penguins on Mary’s List of Extremely Dislikable Sports Teams (and look how well that worked out for me this year with the Stanley Cup). I got the four-overtime win against Michigan a year prior, but I was hungry for more. The run-up Penn State’s 2014 season had a pretty dramatic start under new head coach James Franklin. The 26-24 win over UCF in Ireland set the tone, and from there the Nittany Lions won four straight — including two big blowouts over Akron and Massachusetts while barely squeaking by against Rutgers. Then, Penn State hit a wall, a Big one if you’ll excuse the pun. The struggling offensive line couldn’t…
Continue Reading: Ohio State, blown calls and a loss that was really a win
