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Penn State will join top-25 polls this week, because the Nittany Lions pulled off one of the best wins of the year in dispatching Ohio State on Saturday night, 24-21.
The Nittany Lions were 20-point underdogs, but that didn’t matter, and a blocked field goal return late in the fourth quarter held up as the game’s decisive moment.
It was a brilliant play by the Lions. Penn State’s Marcus Allen (No. 2) jumped to block the 45-yard try from Ohio State’s Tyler Durbin. Grant Haley picked it up and raced down the left sideline, narrowly avoiding chasing Buckeyes.
After the game, the home crowd was predictably (and rightly) jubilant.
It was "everyone dress in a white shirt" night, and the field became very whited out.
When you knock off the No. 2 team in the country, you storm the field. #WeAre pic.twitter.com/LgBtAP1vht
— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) October 23, 2016
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A teary-eyed Penn State head coach James Franklin dedicated the Lions’ win to a niece and nephew who’d just lost a father. (You can watch that up above, atop this post.)
Franklin had a hard time even getting off the field.
James Franklin coming off the field after the Lions pulled the upset. pic.twitter.com/o4OL9G9EwI
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) October 23, 2016
The celebration kept going in the tunnel.
James Franklin walks off with the first signature victory of his #PennState coaching career, the best in recent #PSU history. pic.twitter.com/MdkfnEXU91
— Andrew Callahan (@ACallahan_247) October 23, 2016
This just looks like a whole lot of fun.
When you beat No. 2. #OSUBEAT #OSUBEAT pic.twitter.com/Vger2ogUoP
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) October 23, 2016
Outside, later:
The crowd at the corner of Beaver Ave and Locust Ln has grown by hundreds and is chanting and singing pic.twitter.com/ZrM4XGnRrh
— The Daily Collegian (@DailyCollegian) October 23, 2016
Who knows where Penn State will wind up this year? I don’t, but the Lions just pulled off an awesome college football moment. Happy Valley deserves to be happy.