How LB Micah Parsons knew he was in for a special game for the Penn State Nittany Lions
When rain began to pelt the windows of the team bus on a gray Saturday morning, Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons knew he was in for a special game.
During the 25-minute drive to AT&T Stadium, he texted his parents and told them: The storm is coming. This is great!
And after what he termed the best game of his career — 14 tackles, two sacks, three tackles for loss, two pass breakups and two forced fumbles — Parsons had a lot of “Told you so” to spread around the overcast afternoon. And he did so while carrying his Cotton Bowl Defensive MVP trophy, after the 53-39 win over Memphis.
“This is like a weird thing,” Parsons warned, “but, anytime it rains, I know I will have a good game.”
Sure, the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium is indoors. But Parsons said it doesn’t seem to matter. In Pee-Wee, he said the rain always brought him success. Ditto for high school. Then he rattled off examples at Penn State: Pitt in 2018 (“One of my first best games,” he said), Pitt in 2019 (9 tackles, 2 TFLs) and Michigan State in 2019 (12 tackles).
And then, of course, Saturday’s Cotton Bowl. “The rain is my thing,” Parsons said with a smile.
His teammates and coaches didn’t much care what Parsons called it or how he achieved it. They simply referred to it as “dominant.”
“You’re going to have to show me somebody going into next football season that’s a better defensive football player than Micah Parsons,” defensive coordinator Brent Pry said.
Parsons clamored for blitz packages all afternoon, begging Pry to let him act aggressive. And whenever Pry called his number, Parsons never let him down. He sniffed out a reverse in the first quarter for a 10-yard loss — “That kind of woke me up,” Parsons said — and continued every quarter with his clutch play.
In the second, Pry called his number and he sacked Memphis’ quarterback for an 8-yard loss to force a three-and-out. In the third, he pressured QB Brady White into throwing a pick-six to safety Garrett Taylor. And, in the fourth, his second sack pushed the Tigers into a third-and-long situation and they settled for a field goal.
Taylor, one of the Nittany Lions’ most veteran players, didn’t hesitate when asked where Parsons’ performance ranked among others he’s seen over the past five years.
“It’s damn near the top,” he said. “That kid is special.”
After the final whistle, while the rain stayed outside but colorful confetti fell from the rafters, Parsons celebrated by playfully fixing the brim on his championship hat — turning it backward, then forward and then backward again. He mimed fixing a ring on his finger and flexed for the cameras.
The rain was a superstition, but the sophomore had plenty of confidence even before Saturday. Every day for the last week, he told Pry that he was going to be the one to take that MVP trophy home.
Once he spotted Pry inside the locker room, he didn’t hold back. “I told you I was going to do this, bro!” Parsons said he told him. Pry answered back, “I know, man!”
While Memphis seemed to figure out the Nittany Lions’ defense, it couldn’t figure out Parsons. Taylor’s pick-six was the turning point of the Cotton Bowl, and Parsons wreaked havoc on a Memphis offense that hadn’t seen a player of Parsons’ caliber all season.
Few teams have. So, while Memphis might have been surprised, Penn State’s players and coaches sure weren’t.
“Not at all,” linebacker Cam Brown said. “He’s a man of his word.”
Added Pry: “I’m not surprised one damn bit.”
If fans were surprised by Parsons’ performance Saturday, the sophomore All-American said he really didn’t understand why. “It is a little surprising, for real, if you really think about it,” he said. But he plans to come back even better for the 2020 season.
And for a player who’s still learning the position, and still is already one of the nation’s best, there is no ceiling. Even the Heisman might be in play for the Harrisburg native.
“The door is open,” Parsons said.
This story was originally published December 28, 2019 at 6:50 PM.
