INDIANAPOLIS — Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley hunched forward on his seat, blue jersey half pulled up over the chest protector and gray Big Ten championship hat sitting backwards. The strawberry turf burn covering half his right biceps stood out most.
McSorley fielded the go-to question a few times after the Nittany Lions’ 38-31 comeback victory against No. 6 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship at Lucas Oil Stadium. He just completed 22 of 31 passes for 384 yards and four touchdowns to rally No. 7 Penn State from an improbable three-touchdown deficit.
So, Trace, do the Nittany Lions deserve to be in the College Football Playoff now?
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“I’m not worried about that,” he said. “I’m going to enjoy winning the Big Ten championship. All that will come out tomorrow.”
It might take longer unravel and appreciate the fallout from what happened in this conference championship — this Big Ten championship game — even if the College Football Playoff pairings will be unveiled less than 12 hours later. Penn State (11-2) won thriller against Wisconsin (10-3) but will likely watch No. 2 Ohio State (11-1) advance to the playoff despite beating the Buckeyes head-to-head earlier this season. The Nittany Lions won the head-to-head, division and conference, and they might have to settle for the Rose Bowl, which used to be the Big Ten’s ultimate prize. It’s strange, to say the least, and another reminder of the vitality of the conference championship game in the four-team playoff era.
The weekend in general was devoid of that Power 5 conference championship shakeup. The average margin of victory was 16.3 points across the FBS and 20.8 points in the four Power 5 games. No. 1 Alabama won by 38 points in the SEC championship. No. 4 Washington won by 31 points in the Pac-12 championship.
The most exciting championship — the one that featured the best conference in college football — will likely have no bearing on who takes one of those four playoff spots unless the committee leap-frogs Penn State over a team with one loss or less. Strange is an understatement.
So, Trace, what did it mean to win this conference championship — this Big Ten conference championship?
“This means much to me personally,” he said while his voice finally started to shake. “I can’t thank this team enough, and I can thank God enough. We definitely needed the stars to align to be here.”
Nobody saw those stars, not in a Big Ten East Division that features Urban Meyer-led Ohio State and Jim Harbaugh-led Michigan. The Wolverines dumped the Nittany Lions 49-10 in Ann Arbor on Sept. 24.
Penn State didn’t lose again. Those starts aligned about the time Grant Haley scooped up a blocked field goal and tumbled in for a touchdown in a 24-21 victory against No. 2 Ohio State on Oct. 22. From there, the Nittany Lions crashed the Big Ten championship.
This was supposed to be the consolation game to the 30-27 double-overtime thriller between Ohio State and Michigan in Columbus on Nov. 26. Instead, it turned out to be just as revealing. McSorley rallied the Nittany Lions down from a 28-7 deficit for the most unlikely conference championship of the weekend. He’s a star quarterback with a star running back in Saquon Barkley.
Forget about three-loss USC. Penn State is the hottest team in the FBS, and they have this conference championship to prove it.
“Not even talking about the playoff hopes it’s special,” Barkley said. “I talked to my class. This is what we came here for. We wanted to be the class to be part of the team to bring Penn State back.”
Back from the shadow of 2011 and the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal that led to the firing of Joe Paterno. Back from NCAA sanctions that riddled the program. Back to the front of a division where Ohio State and Michigan dominate the headlines to the point it wouldn’t be a total surprise if the Buckeyes and Wolverines were still ranked ahead of Penn State on Sunday.
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Yet it’s the Nittany Lions who brought home the championship trophy under third-year coach James Franklin.
“We would love to be in the playoff conversation,” Franklin said. “We’d love that opportunity. But also to be able to represent the Big Ten as the Big Ten conference champions playing in the Rose Bowl, that would be great as well.”
Franklin, who appeared on the hot seat after that loss to the Wolverines, said this was part of Penn State’s script all season. Wisconsin linebacker T.J. Watt smacked McSorley on a three-and-out to start the game. The Badgers jumped out to a 28-7 lead after a fumble return for a touchdown and a fourth-and-2 stop. When Watt sacked McSorley, forced a fumble and recovered it all in one motion, it looked the Nittany Lions were done before halftime.
“Well, Commissioner (Jim Delany) asked me to make the game as exciting as we possibly could,” Franklin joked. “So that’s why we did all those things in the first half, to get the ratings up.”
Something happened after that turnover, however. The Nittany Lions forced a punt. Then McSorley went off. He threw a pair of deep touchdown passes to Saeed Blacknell, and Barkley tied the game with 4:22 left in the third quarter. That’s when a more-than-half “White Out” contingent of Penn State fans started to feel it coming.
McSorley’s go-ahead TD pass to Barkley with 13:41 left in the fourth quarter gave Penn State a 35-31 lead it would not give back, and a conference championship whose weight will be determined later.
In that short term, that might not be enough for the College Football Playoff. In the long term, however, it’s a signal that one of the Big Ten’s big-time players is back in business. Happy days are back in Happy Valley.
“It brought hope back,” Barkley said. “I mean being Big Ten champs, winning the best conference in college football, it’s big. It’s big time.”
That’s what Penn State pulled off Saturday. Franklin said conference championships should carry weight, and this one certainly does. It might not tip the scales for the playoff committee, but McSorley didn’t seem concerned about that.
The weight shifts off this program now, thanks in large part to McSorley’s big-time performance. The strawberry turf burn on his right biceps told you something. McSorley sold out to give the Nittany Lions this victory, and it’s a sign of better things to come. On a weekend where other conference championships meant more or less and their future value will continue to be questioned, this one still stood out the most.
“As far as the playoff committee, they know what they are doing,” McSorley said. “They have their formulas and all that stuff. We’ll let them work that out. I love this team. I’m just going to cherish every moment I can with these guys.”
The playoff will come or go. This conference championship — this Big Ten conference championship — will always have its own special place at Penn State.
