‘It’s a tough situation’: Penn State football alums mourn Nittany Lions’ lost fall season
Keith “Goon” Conlin watched the seconds tick off the video board at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on a late December 2019 afternoon.
On the field, then-No. 10 Penn State had begun to celebrate its double-digit win over then-No. 17 Memphis in the Cotton Bowl. After a sack by defensive end Jason Oweh allowed the final 14 seconds to wind down, players gave head coach James Franklin a Gatorade shower on the sideline.
Meanwhile, Conlin — an All-Big Ten offensive tackle for Penn State from 1992-95 — was already looking forward to the Nittany Lions’ next season.
“You could see what they were losing and what was coming back,” Conlin told the Centre Daily Times this week. “And you were like, ‘All right, this is gonna be a damn good year.’”
But with the Big Ten’s decision on Aug. 11 to postpone the fall sports season, the Nittany Lions — ranked No. 7 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll — will have to settle for “what ifs.” And so will many of the program’s former players.
On a Zoom call with reporters in August, Franklin said one of his biggest frustrations with the conference’s decision to postpone the season was that he believed his team had the chance to have a “special” season. Conlin, who played on Penn State’s last undefeated team in 1994-95, agreed. “I think this was gonna be the year,” he said about the Nittany Lions’ potential for making the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history.
After taking over the program in 2014, Franklin quickly brought Penn State back to national relevance after historic sanctions in 2012. The seventh-year head coach broke through in 2016 with an 11-win season capped off by a Big Ten title, after winning only seven games in each of his first two seasons. Now, he looked to take the next step.
“There were some young guys on the team when I was there that were going to be seniors this upcoming fall,” said Miami Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki, an All-American who played from 2014-17. “So, I do know there was a lot of talent, some good leadership and obviously a couple big names on the team. They definitely had the capability and the talent to make a push and have a really successful season.”
Like Franklin and his current players, former Nittany Lions were also surprised by how quickly the Big Ten canceled fall football after releasing a conference-only schedule six days prior — especially since the precautionary measures Penn State took seemed to be effective.
After the first week of fall practice, there had been no positive cases of COVID-19 reported in the football program, Franklin said on Aug. 19.
“Obviously, safety first and health first when it comes to these kinds of deals,” said Detroit Lions linebacker Jason Cabinda, who also played for the Nittany Lions from 2014-17. “It just seemed like the strategies that they put in place were working, which is why I was just a bit confused that they canceled as suddenly as they did.”
Cabinda’s Detroit teammate and former Penn State cornerback Amani Oruwariye said he recently spoke to cornerbacks coach Terry Smith — who coached him at Penn State from 2015-18 — and described the decision as “tough” for the coaching staff to stomach.
Oruwariye also mentioned that the coaching staff “felt like it should be up to the players if they want to opt out or not.”
“I couldn’t imagine when I was at Penn State if they told me the season was canceled,” he said. “You know, especially for those guys who are looking forward to this year maybe being the year for them to get to the next level, it’s tough. It’s a tough situation.”
There are Nittany Lions that have already cemented their NFL draft stock, like linebacker Micah Parsons — who opted out of the season in early August, before it was postponed — and tight end Pat Freiermuth. But players who were banking on this fall to have breakout campaigns likely have their hopes tied to a potential spring football season.
Legendary Penn State linebacker Dan Connor, who still has the school record for most career tackles with 419 from 2004-07, thinks a spring season could be dangerous for player safety.
“It’s gonna be really tough to do a turnaround from the spring to the following fall, especially when you’re talking about the size and speed of Division I athletes,” Connor said. “I don’t know if it’d be a great idea. I know guys would want to play and do whatever they can to try to get out there and get something out of this year, but that’s a quick turnaround. … That’d put some guys at risk, from an injury and durability perspective.”
Neither current nor former members of the Penn State program know what’s next. On Aug. 28, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel first reported that a Big Ten season of at least eight games starting the week of Thanksgiving was on the table. Then, earlier this week, reports stated that an Oct. 10 start date was also a possibility.
It’s the lack of clarity regarding a plan moving forward that’s irritating those close to Penn State football the most.
“You know what? If they’re gonna cancel the season, just rip the Band-Aid off,” Conlin said. “If it’s gonna end, end it.”
Less than a year ago, Conlin sat in AT&T Stadium, looking forward to his alma mater’s potential on the football field in 2020.
Now, all he and others have is the idea of what could’ve been.
“We were going into the season a (top-10) team,” Conlin said. “This was going to be James’ best team by far. And that’s gotta be frustrating for him, too.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2020 at 4:53 PM.
