COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The fans stayed until the last snap was completed, cheering along with the Nittany Lion mascot and waiting for another glimpse of this 2017 team.
While Penn State's reserves were in with 5:42 left in the third quarter, a tell-tale sign that the Nittany Lions' 10th win of the season was already well in hand, the No. 10 Lions' regular season finale -- their most complete performance of the season -- made for good reason to celebrate.
Whether it was Trace McSorley orchestrating the offense that put up 52 points by the end of the third quarter, a pleasant-surprise of a pass rush from the Lions' defense, or punter Blake Gillikin getting little use because of the Lions' offensive explosion, the end result was a 66-3 domination of Maryland on Saturday. And with the win came the Lions' second double-digit win total in as many years, this one setting them up to continue building off of nights like this, ones where Penn State stomped Maryland (4-8, 2-7) from the get go and didn't let their foot off the gas.
"I like where we're at," James Franklin said. "I still think we can get better and that's really kind of the exciting part about all of this."
The double-digit win milestone is part of the program's turnaround that didn't happen overnight, something that seemed far fetched even just a couple years ago. Nights like Saturday could also be a sign of what's to come as Penn State's (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) offense had plenty of room to work from the get go and backup quarterback Tommy Stevens stole the show with four total touchdowns and a team-best 113 rushing yards. The win showed off the depth that the Lions have been building since Franklin arrived, with much of that depth coming from right here in the talent-rich DMV.
"Obviously it didn't happen fast enough for a lot of people, but for us looking back at it and really kind of having perspective I'm very pleased," Franklin said of the Lions' turnaround. "I'm very pleased with where we're at and the exciting thing for me is I think we're getting better. I think we're just going to continue to get better. We've got some young guys who we're really excited to kind of get into this period right now to kind of continue developing the young guys."
The next phase of the season for Penn State, one that perhaps was on many of the players and fans' minds by the end of the first half when Penn State had a commanding 31-0 lead, is to prepare for a bowl game. They'll know their destination by next Sunday afternoon. In the interim, players will continue working out and heading into the two-week stretch leading up to finals week, while many of these younger players who stepped up Saturday will continue grinding behind the scenes during bowl practices.
This part of the year is as much about program development and with the Lions' coaching staff hitting the recruiting trail again on Sunday -- and for the first time since August not having a game to prepare for next week or the week after that -- it allows all of them to take a little breather.
Entering into this period trending upward with back-to-back dominant performances certainly helps take the sting away from other thoughts about what this season could've been. While the Lions won't defend their Big Ten title next weekend in Indianapolis and won't make it to the College Football Playoff, Franklin said he's not thinking of that.
He has 25 days until the Lions can ink members of their 2018 recruiting class and one week until he can put one of those nine variations of bowl practice schedules to use, something he said he's already shared with players and their parents so there's no uncertainty about what the next month could entail.
"I'm excited about going 1-0 tonight," he said. "I'm going to focus on the positive and not the would've, could've, should've."
It's a patented answer from the Lions' head man, but it's resonated with the players and staffers while the team rebounded from back-to-back losses that crushed their original post-season plans. A soft schedule to end the year against a Nebraska team featuring a coach that's since been fired and a Maryland team that was down two starting quarterbacks certainly helps, but posting 56-plus points the past two weeks is a reminder that life could be much worse for the upstart Lions.
In fact, they have a backup quarterback in Stevens whose popularity continues to skyrocket as he rumbles like a running back and has the versatility to seemingly play anywhere on offense.
"I don't think I could play on the offensive line," the 6-foot-5 quarterback quipped. "I don't really have the body for that."
Franklin even called him a "damn good backup." Stevens, with four touchdowns, including a 21-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, a 4-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter and a pair of rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter, trended on Twitter and will be the topic of offseason discussions. He's shown time and time again he brings more to the table than just looks out of the two-quarterback package and he has a rare enough skill set that he could give the Lions more options next season wherever they end up using him.
They Lions have also built depth up front, something they showcased against Maryland as left tackle Ryan Bates didn't enter the game until the fourth quarter where he played right tackle while working his way back from injury. It was Bates' first game action since getting hurt in the fourth quarter against Ohio State. The Lions also relied on walk-on center Zach Simpson, who filled in for starter Conner McGovern, who exited in the second quarter with a knee injury. Then in came redshirt freshman Michal Menet in mop-up time, filling in for senior right guard Brendan Mahon, giving perhaps another glimpse of what the future of this line could look like.
Penn State also has a big-bodied and young receiver in redshirt sophomore Juwan Johnson, who continues to break free for yards after the catch and has become a reliable target. He'll likely see an uptick in production next season with DaeSean Hamilton having just one game left wearing the blue and white.
But there's also some optimism with the future of this defense, at least after the way redshirt freshman defensive end Shane Simmons, a Maryland native, rushed the passer in the first half there should be hope in the future of the pass rush. There's also third-down specialist Shaka Toney, who continues to provide a boost off the edge and end-turned tackle-turned end again Kevin Givens, who tallied a forced fumble, sack and a tackle for loss against the Terrapins. Penn State had eight tackles for loss and forced four fumbles, getting back to the key takeaway category that they struggled with in the past month.
Freshman cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields has been a big part of this year's success and with four tackles, a forced fumble and a tackle for loss, he too is trending upward as the Lions start to look ahead to what comes after this bowl game. For a secondary that loses four starters come January, Castro-Fields' consistency has to be a big-time confidence boost.
While that part, looking ahead, is something Franklin seems to only do in snippets since he's Mr. 1-0 each week, Saturday night was a reminder that with back-to-back double-digit win totals there's still a lot for this team and these players to cheer about. Perhaps next season after 12 games the result will be different, but enjoying the ride is something Franklin seems to be getting better at too.
"I really believe this is just the beginning for us," Franklin said. "I really feel like we can just continue to get better, and it's every aspect of the program. ... We need to do to continue to build this program. At this level, it's very, very difficult and it's very, very challenging. So we've just got to keep scraping and clawing and scratching for every little inch that we can find. Because to be honest with you, for where we want to go, it's still going to need to be a slow, steady crawl to get where we want to go. And I'd make the argument it's going to be harder these next steps than what we've already done. Should be an interesting ride."
