Hold on for one second.
I’ve come to realize that as I get older, time does indeed move faster.
I just put away the Christmas decorations a week ago and now I’m putting them up again?
Football season just started and now it’s December?
It’s hard to stop for a second and enjoy what’s in front of you.
I recognize I’m not saying anything earth-shattering by declaring that time moves faster as we get older either. It’s not a new concept. My own grandmother, an octogenarian, has lectured me on that very sentiment plenty of times.
But in this fast paced life we all have, I just want to hold on for one second — at least as it relates to Penn State football.
As I came out of the stupor caused by Ohio State’s collapse against Michigan which gave the Nittany Lions a berth into the Big Ten Championship game, it hit me that this is — right now in the first week of December in 2024 — the closest Penn State has ever been to a national championship in my lifetime.
It’s still very far away too.
I don’t know what it will take for Penn State to win a national championship. I don’t know if this current Penn State team can win a national championship.
But I would like to take a moment in this breakneck world to recognize that Penn State has the most real chance in my lifetime to win the big one.
We should establish my age because for many of you a certain age, you’ve seen the two that Penn State has won. I was born in 1994 and that’s probably the closest Nittany Lions have ever come in my lifetime winning a title. I don’t remember any of that though.
If we consider it from the perspective that “well, Penn State has a chance every year to win a national championship,” then 2005 was the first time I truly could appreciate what I was seeing.
But that team, thanks to a game in Michigan, never as close as the 2024 team — with a more direct path than any after that.
That 2005 team also played in the BCS era, where it gave only two chances to make the championship game. You’d need the computer, the voters and a win in that championship game to accomplish the ultimate goal. It’s also an era that coincided with roughly half of the national championship handed out in my lifetime.
Then by the time I got to college, the four-team playoff came along. Penn State’s 2016 team, the last to make a trip to Indianapolis until this 2024 one, had a small chance — even if we all realized it when it was too late. A win over Pitt in 2016 probably provided a better chance, but you and I don’t have time machines and football games would not be the first thing on my list to change.
The following year’s roster is probably the best, most recent crack at a national championship caliber team. But a roadblock in Columbus and a rain storm in East Lansing derailed all of that.
Now in 2024, by way of an expanded playoff, Penn State has a real chance — or is at least still in the conversation. They will get a real crack at it. There are still a lot of ifs in the way, including several wins against what could be some of the best teams in the country, but I can definitively say the Nittany Lions have never been in the conversation like this in my lifetime either.
The defense is stout — which has been a common thread throughout my entire life. The offense is hitting its stride at the right time. And now, thanks to conference realignment and the elimination of divisions, Penn State also has the best record since 2005.
I think a lot of changes to the institution of college football haven’t necessarily been the best. Nor do I think many of them have always been fan-friendly. But it’s exhilarating to sit here and experience the feeling of hope in a new way. That’s all thanks to the biggest change in the sport — the 12-team playoff.
Penn State — even with an unfavorable outcome against Oregon — is still going to play in that tournament. Penn State is still going to have the most legitimate shot at a national championship ring its ever had in my life.
In some ways, I did self-inflect the suffering on myself as a Penn State fan. After all, I didn’t have to be a Penn State fan. (Scholars will be debate this though as my mother was the one to feed me.) I’ve also talked to true Alabama or Georgia fans who are almost tired of their recent success. Yes, there are Penn Staters who know how it feels, too. But people of my generation and younger who are passionate about Penn State football haven’t gotten to experience this.
It’s a feeling that I haven’t felt as a fan since the Pittsburgh Pirates made the playoffs back in 2013 after their first winning season in my lifetime. Then again, comparing the Pirates to Penn State isn’t fair. For starters, I like Penn State’s chances at advancing deeper in the tournament than those Buccos. And secondly, I’m very confident that the Penn State football program is more well-run than Bob Nutting’s organization.
It’s also that feeling of optimism that drives fandom. Hope is a central tenant to being a fan.
Right now, I have some of that hope and that’s unusual for this time of year. It’s a feeling that I don’t want to end. It’s also one that I want to enjoy right now.
In a manic month — in the busiest time of the year — hold on for a second and enjoy what is and what could be because it’s going to go quickly — one way or another.
If you’ve enjoyed this content, please subscribe to Stuff Somers Says With Steve on YouTube. Or join our newsletter by entering your email below.
