It felt pretty incredible to be present for Penn State’s final home game of the season Saturday. And that feeling had nothing to do with the Wisconsin football team I’ve been covering for The Badger Herald.

For this Nittany Lion program, the past 12 months have been a whirlwind of scarring reports and trying emotions. The Jerry Sandusky scandal, the firing and death of legendary coach Joe Paterno, the removal of Paterno’s bronze statue, a new coach, a long list of sanctions – it seemed to many that this Penn State program would fold into oblivion.

But new head coach Bill O’Brien and a group of 31 Nittany Lions seniors stood by the program and transformed 2012 into a year that was inducted into the Ring of Honor adorning Beaver Stadium, an exclusive club reserved only for the most successful of Penn State teams.

For a team that finished the year 8-4 and failed to win its division, let alone qualify for postseason play, 2012 was perhaps the most successful of any season for PSU since Joe Paterno led the program to its last undefeated season in 1994. Why?

Because when things could have gone so wrong, this Penn State football team found a way to make it so right.

When the NCAA handed down a four-year postseason ban on the football program and allowed all current Penn State players to transfer anywhere without sitting out the usual mandatory one-year period, players like standout running back Silas Redd and a plethora of others decided the situation at the school they originally chose was too bleak to stay.

But, seniors like fullback Michael Zordich, defensive tackle Jordan Hill, quarterback Matt McGloin and linebackers Gerald Hodges and Michael Mauti decided to stay. In the process, that group became the face of Penn State with its eloquence and grace in representing its university in the toughest of times.

The group of starters and other seniors decided to put program over self, pride in its school and the duty of aiding in the healing of a downtrodden and disillusioned fanbase over the chance to compete in a bowl game.

While the sacrifice was the same for each player on the Penn State roster who elected to stay, it was effectively the seniors who became a representation of the best the program had to offer.

How big was that representation? When Mauti’s injury kept him out of his final game as a senior Saturday, the team put his jersey number – 42 – on each side of its helmets. Fellow senior linebacker Hodges wore his jersey number to honor his teammate, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week against Indiana.

The feelings of respect, honor and adoration of the legacy of this senior class were manifested in the parking lot before the game. Feeling the atmosphere that surrounded the tailgate and talking to a handful of Penn State fans confirmed a sentiment of deep appreciation for this year’s senior class. People talked about how the group made them proud to wear their Penn State colors again, about how the group represented what was best about the university at a time when its image was in worse shape than ever before. 

But Penn State is still far from out of the woods. While the football program lost 10 scholarships initially this season to comply with NCAA sanctions, it still has to reduce 10 more over the next four years, crippling the team’s depth from the usual 85 scholarships.

Along with three more years of a postseason ban, O’Brien will be pressed to maintain the talent and depth of past teams. But, with the success in the wake of a potential disaster season and with a strong r?sum? of offensive success to his name, O’Brien may be able to make these so-called down-years for the Nittany Lions a little less painful.

What occurred at Penn State should never be forgotten. It was a lack of institutional control where a few men put the interests of themselves and their public image over the innocence and protection of victimized children.

But the healing process began three months ago when the team took the field at Beaver Stadium for the first time this year against Ohio. And although the bumps and bruises during the transition from the Paterno era to that of O’Brien had its bumps and bruises, the success of a team that opened the season at 0-2 (losing to Ohio and Virginia) is evidence enough that Penn State fans can once again feel proud to represent the football program.

Just as has been the case for the Penn State football team in multiple games this season, the game wasn’t decided until the very end. Wisconsin’s Curt Phillips denied the Nittany Lions a chance for the storybook ending on Senior Day by orchestrating a last-minute touchdown to send the game into overtime.

But as luck – or maybe fate – would have it, Wisconsin kicker Kyle French’s attempt in overtime sailed wide left as the Penn State sideline took to the field as many raw, pent-up emotions from a year filled with turmoil poured out of players and coaches alike.

I’ve heard extraordinary men are born out of extraordinary circumstances. As the final whistle blew Saturday night in Happy Valley, 31 men walked off of the collegiate field of play for the final time in their careers, victorious and extraordinary in their own right.

Nick is a fifth-year senior majoring in history and English. Catch Nick on “The Badger Herald Sports Hour” every Sunday from 4-5 p.m. and “The Student Section” every Monday from 4-6 p.m. Have a thought on the column? Email Nick at [email protected] or on Twitter @nickkorger.