Penn State Ends Scandal Stained Season With a Loss


It’s been a rough year for the Penn State Nittany Lions. The team, which was thrust into the limelight after Jerry Sandusky was arrested for dozens of child abuse charges, ended its season today with a loss to the University of Houston in the TicketCity Bowl.

Penn State played its bowl game without the help of longtime coach Joe Paterno, who was fired earlier this year after failing to alert police about Sandusky’s conduct.

Paterno’s son Jay, who is the quarterback coach at Penn State, said:

“We’ve been to hell and back in a lot of ways, more so for our kids. I think the one good thing that comes out of this is the character of the players on our team has really shown to everybody.”

Penn State was looking for a silver lining to their tumultuous season, but Houston quarterback Casey Keenum made it extremely difficult for the Nittany Lions. USA Today reports that Keenum threw for 532 yards to lead Houston to a 30 to 14 victory.

Defensive tackle Jordan Hill said:

“They were snapping the ball before the chains were even set. It was hard to keep our composure, it was very frustrating. When you pass the ball that many times and are that efficient, that’s hard to stop.”

The New York Times reports that the Nittany Lions will be losing 23 seniors this year. Hill, who will be moving on from Penn State next year, said:

“This is the hardest team to let go because we are so close. When you go through obstacles like that and you overcome them and you don’t break as a team, or even in life you don’t break as a person, that makes you stronger. That’s exactly what it did to us.”

Were you hoping for the Penn State Nittany Lions to end their season with a win?

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