Happy days are here again

Photo creds to The Daily Collegian

If the 2016 Penn State Nittany Lions crash and burn, then by all means, go back to this article as the point where it all started. 

As a die-hard PSU football supporter, I have been through a lot over the past five years. Forget ''We Are'' for a second. The key phrase for this article will be ''we have''.

Ever since the scandal broke, ''we have'' been mocked. In some cases, as fans, ''we have'' been scolded for something that we had no involvement in. ''We have'' been punished by the NCAA, and because of that, ''we have'' a football program with a big handicap. Lastly ''we have'' been too mediocre on the field to do anything about it.

 This article is not a sob story. What this it  is is an opportunity for me to finally write something good about the Penn State Nittany Lions.

If you would like, you can go back through the archives of this sports blog, and try to find one article I've written about Penn State football that was positive. The most praise that I have given this football program was when they defeated Indiana at home last season. That's it. Granted, I have not written about Penn State or College Football in general as much as I would like, but at the end of the day, I haven't been able to show my ''Lion Pride'', until now.

Let's go back to the last time I was overly optimistic about Penn State football. That was January of 2014 when Penn State hired James Franklin to be their 16th head football coach. This man had it all. He was lively, he was charismatic, and he managed to turn Vanderbilt into a respectable football program. This guy was the man. Surely, he would fix everything. Then the first two seasons happened.

Mediocrity, mediocrity, and more mediocrity. A 14-12 record over two seasons is not acceptable in Happy Valley, and James Franklins' ''dominate the state'' line from his introductory press conference was becoming notorious for all the wrong reasons. 2016 looked like it would be the same old song, as the Lions started out 2-2, losing to *blah* Pitt and getting humiliated by Michigan.

Then a funny thing happened. Penn State started winning. First came a come from behind OT thriller over Minnesota. Next was a 38-14 demolition over previously unbeaten Maryland. Then came that win over Ohio State that was a big deal. After that was consecutive demolitions over the disgrace that is Purdue and the respectable Iowa Hawkeyes. Finally, the Nittany Lions survived a scare at Indiana, and that is how they got to where they are today.

Now, if my Nittany Lions can finish out the year strong and end up building on their success in the coming years, one date that I want every Nittany Lion fan to remember is October 1st, 2016.

Two people, in particular, might not be getting the credit that they deserve for this fabulous turnaround. The first is Joe Moorehead. Over the past two seasons, Penn State's offense was garbage. It was awful, and in 2015, it ranked among the worst in all of college football. Thankfully,  Franklin came to his senses and fired the offensive coordinator, his ole Vanderbilt buddy, John Donavan. Enter, Moorehead. The man who had resurrected the football program as the head man at Fordham university now was asked to do the same with the Penn State offense. Boy has he ever.

Penn State was 11th in the Big 10 in total offense in 2014. They were 9th in that category in 2015. Now, they are 4th in the Big 10 and climbing fast. It's because Moorehead knows what he is doing. Under Donavan, Penn State ran a pro style offense, filled with short passes that didn't get anything accomplished. Under Moorehead, Penn State runs a spread, filled with a creative variety of deep balls, sweeps, and several QB runs to keep the defense on their toes. In my book, nobody associated with Penn State football is more important than Joe Moorehead. He has been a godsend.

The second person I'd like to thank may come as more of a surprise. He is a man who no longer is associated with Penn State football. In fact, he's not related to College Football at all. He was only here for less than 24 months, but his impact on this program will last forever. He was Penn State's football coach from 2012-13. He is Bill O'Brien.

Gone, but not forgotten

Some may still be bitter about the way BOB left for the pros. But had he not taken the job that nobody wanted, had he not gotten new recruits while keeping the ones that were there, had he not kept Penn State respectable when most were foreseeing PSU becoming SMU 2.0, then happy days would not be here again.

Penn State is on fire, and I had to write something about it. Let's hope this euphoric feeling won't be temporary.