Bar none, 10 wins, top-10 ranking make this great season for Lions

Raise your hand if you had Penn State winning 10 games during the regular season. C'mon now, be honest. I mean realistically saw 10 wins, not just through some heavily tinted blue-colored glasses.

Also, raise your hand if you thought you'd ever see the day that Sean Clifford would complete 13 consecutive passes. On senior day, no less, in his final home game at Beaver Stadium after arriving shortly after, oh, what was it, the early 90s?

Talk about a storybook ending. For everyone, including James Franklin, who pulled off a 10-win regular season after two trying and tumultuous years.

"I'm really proud," Franklin said after Saturday's 35-16 victory over Michigan State in University Park, Pa. "You think about where this team started, in terms of how people talked about us in preseason, to where we finished, I think inside the top 10 at the end of the regular season."

OK, so no, Penn State didnt beat a single ranked opponent this season. And it lost its two biggest games to Michigan and Ohio State. And there were times during Saturday's win over Sparty where the team was as aggravating as ever, missing opportunities to blow out an overmatched opponent.

But you know what? All that stuff really doesn't matter. Or at least it shouldn't. Oh, it will to some naysayers who will contend the Nittany Lions never really proved themselves against a good team.

But 10 wins is 10 wins. Period.

And come this week, Penn State will finish the regular season ranked in the top 10 in the country with a 10-2 record, and most likely a fourth New Year's Six bowl game in the past seven years.

It's easy to get caught up in the here and now of nitpicking a team that certainly has flaws. But when history looks back on the 2022 season, it will show 10 wins in Penn State's column -- maybe even 11 -- and there's no denying that makes for a great season.

"Honestly, it doesn't even feel real," defensive end Nick Tarburton said of getting to 10 wins. "It's good to get back to where we know Penn State should be and that's where Penn State should be every single year, double-digit wins and playing in big games."

This was not a big game, like so many around the country on a crazy Saturday. Penn State had its 10 wins on the line, and Michigan State was playing to become bowl eligible, but the annual Land Grant Trophy contest was essentially a really good team against a really bad team.

And that's exactly how it played out early on.

Penn State built a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter on one of Clifford's four TD passes, this one to a wide-open Theo Johnson.

Then offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich dialed up this beauty -- a double pass from Clifford to receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who hit Johnson for a 48-yard TD.

sneaky 🤫🤫🤫@drelambertt x @theo_Johnson_ pic.twitter.com/c9w0RmxKmI

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) November 26, 2022

"We repped it all week," Lambert-Smith said. "Me and Theo were joking, 'Don't overthrow me, lead me, make it perfect.' So, when it was called ... we talked about it. He was like, 'Read me,' right before we went out there. I'm like, 'Come on, come on. So, after I did it, it was a perfect throw, I went back to him like, 'I led you enough? Perfect? It was good.'"

Penn State was up 14-0, but it felt like the Lions were dominating by 30 points. The defense had total control, but Jake Pinegar missed two field goals (37 and 28 yards) that nearly came back to bite Penn State.

The Lions got a big break when the Spartans fumbled a punt return deep in their own territory, and Clifford hit tight end Tyler Warren for a 14-yard TD to make it 21-3 with 5:42 to go in the third.

Michigan State finally got things rolling in the third quarter and turned that 21-3 deficit into 21-16 on a couple of nice drives and big-time, clutch throws by Payton Thorne.

Just when it seemed like Penn State might give away a game it had been dominating, the Lions started dominating once again.

"I think that's something our team has been great with throughout the season," Warren said of the Lions' mentality when the game got close. "It wasn't heads down or talking bad to each other. We were up, and we knew we had a job to do."

Penn State's regrouping process started with a huge touchdown drive led by Clifford that ended on this beautiful fourth-and-1 playcall for a TD to Nicholas Singleton.

Just for good measure, Clifford led another TD drive and finished off his passing day with this 35-yard TD to Lambert-Smith. It was Clifford's 13th straight completion, and on this day we saw good Sean Clifford as he finished 19 of 24 for 202 yards and four scores.

Ironically, as pointed out by Penn State reporter Mark Wogenrich from Fan Nation, Clifford's first career pass at Beaver Stadium was a touchdown back in 2018, and his final pass at home also went for a score.

"I can't thank Penn State enough," Clifford said. "Starting with the president all the way down to the janitors in Lasch, everybody is always showing me love.

"Like I said before, people are always going to be critical, but that's because this place is so special, and they demand excellence. They should demand the best and want to win every game because that is what this program deserves. I wouldn't give up the memories I've had for anything."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• What a monster day for Penn State's tight ends! Three TD catches -- two by Theo Johnson and one by Warren -- plus seven total catches for 96 yards.

It should not have been a surprise, really, with No. 1 wide receiver Parker Washington out for the season. That was a major blow to the passing game, and Yurcich did a fantastic job incorporating the three talented tight ends into the game plan.

We've heard all season about how good Penn State's tight end room is, and this was an exclamation point because the team really needed them to step up and catch some big passes. Plus, these guys are all really good blockers, too, so they bring a ton to the team.

"I think as a group we're definitely excited to catch some touchdown passes like that, and I'm excited when Theo and Brenton get to do it as much as I am when I get to do it," Warren said. "I think it just kind of speaks to our group as being versatile and doing what the offense needs."

• It really was like three games. Penn State dominated early, then Sparty owned the third quarter, then the Lions poured it on late.

The big difference was that Michigan State finally was able to shut down Penn State's running game in the third quarter, after the Lions had rushed for 127 yards in the first half. The Lions managed just 33 yards on the ground in the second half.

Michigan State's issue was that it could not run the ball, putting all the pressure on Thorne, who finished 24 of 43 for 229 yards with one TD and one interception.

• Wow, did Kalen King have a day. He had five pass breakups, one interception and one tackle for loss.

Joey Porter Jr. did return from his appendicitis, but he didn't play the entire game. Still, Penn State's defense was in complete control, save for two Michigan State drives in the third quarter.

"I think we can make an argument that we have two of the best, if not three of the best corners in the country," Franklin said. "Kalen is playing consistent all year long. Joey was playing as good as any corner in the country and then obviously as you guys know, he had a medical situation which we announced what it was. I'm proud of the fact that he was able to come back. I wouldn't say he was full go today, but he was good enough to play and was cleared by the doctors and he wanted to get out there and help his team."

• Kaytron Allen finished with 82 yards rushing on 21 carries, while Singleton had 78 yards on 17 carries, with a long of 31.

• We did not get to see Drew Allar in this game, thanks to Michigan's State's comeback. So, that was one of the few negatives on the evening for the home fans.

• Abdul Carter is a special, special player. The Micah Parsons comparisons might seem a bit premature, but the freshman linebacker just keeps making big plays week after week.

Carter finished with two sacks, three tackles for loss and seven total tackles.

• Defensive tackle PJ Mustipher was asked if Penn State is playing as good of football as it has during his five-year career.

"Yeah, I tell them all the time," he said. "Guys don't understand it because they're young. Once they get to where we are as seniors, they'll understand that it's not easy to do well. Even in 2019, I don't think we were blowing out teams like that. We probably had more talent, if not the same talent that year as we did this year. So, it's no an easy thing to do. And this is some of the best football I've seen played here. But that's just who we are."

• I want to give a shout out to Michigan State. That team has had a miserable season finishing 5-7 and just had seven players charged this week for their role in the brawl at Michigan. The Spartans could have packed it in after falling behind 21-3, and I certainly expected them to. But they showed a light of fight getting back in the game.

• About the bowl game:

Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren is lobbying for Ohio State to also make the College Football Playoff after getting drilled at home by Michigan on Saturday. But the Buckeyes would need either USC or TCU to lose to make that happen. Both of those teams will play in conference championship games next week.

Right now, the playoff field would seem to be Georgia, Michigan, USC and TCU. If the Buckeyes can sneak into that group, Penn State would go to the Rose Bowl.

As of now, with LSU and Clemson losing, it would seem to open up a spot for Tennessee to play in the Orange Bowl. If that happens, then Penn State could slide into the Cotton Bowl for the second time in four years as a New Year's Six game.

Wouldn't that be ironic for Clifford to return and finish his career in Dallas, where he led the Lions to a win over Memphis in 2019?

There is still a possibility that Penn State, despite being ranked in the top 10, could slip all the way to the Citrus Bowl. But that would seem unlikely after LSU and Clemson both lost, since both now should be ranked below the Lions in this week's College Football Playoff rankings.

NOTE FROM GIGER

Sorry, folks, for this probably not being my best work. I tested positive for COVID on Saturday morning and had to watch the game from home. It's the first home game I've missed since 2010, when I was covering the Altoona Curve in the Eastern League Championship Series in Trenton and missed the Kent State game.

It took me forever to get this story done because I was absolutely wiped out. Hopefully I'll recover quickly and should have a follow-up column Sunday night on bowl scenarios and other topics.

No We Are podcast this week because I just couldn't talk well enough to pull it off.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Box score
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics

THE INJURY REPORT

CB Joey Porter Jr. returned to action after missing two games with appendicitis. He didn't play much late in the game, though, and was seen on the sideline without a helmet.

LT Olu Fashanu missed his fourth straight game with an undisclosed injury.

WR Parker Washington is done for the season with a leg injury.

THE SCHEDULE

Penn State's regular season is done, and now we'll wait to see where the Lions will play their bowl game.

THE CONTENT

Visit our Penn State team page for everything.