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PSU, USC overcome adversity to prosper

Rose Bowl contenders both dealt with years of sanctions, slow start to this season

LOS ANGELES -- Two of the nation's most storied football programs have overcome very difficult times in recent years and even recent months to make for a highly improbable matchup in tonight's Rose Bowl.

Penn State had the sanctions.

So did USC.

Penn State got off to a slow start this season.

So did USC.

Penn State's coach was on the hot seat, to outsiders at least, after a few games this year. USC's coach was, as well.

Yet here they are, the Nittany Lions and the Trojans, getting set to play in what most consider the best bowl matchup of the postseason, outside of the College Football Playoff.

Getting to this point, after overcoming so much adversity, has to feel even sweeter.

"I think in a lot of ways it probably does," PSU coach James Franklin said. "I don't think there's ever a scenario where you come to the Rose Bowl and you don't appreciate it and you're not excited. But I think our story

probably makes it a little bit different."

"Teams have a hard time getting here under normal situations," Franklin added, "and we've been able to do it under very, very different situations and maybe some of the more challenging situations in the history of college football."

The Jerry Sandusky scandal in 2011 led to the NCAA slapping Penn State with some of the most severe sanctions in history. Aside from the taint and negativity PSU had to overcome from the scandal itself, the football team suffered severely from sanctions that included bowl bans and major scholarship reductions.

Most figured it would take Penn State many years to get back to a point where it could earn a Rose Bowl berth. The scholarship reductions were later overturned by the NCAA -- a huge component in the Lions' revival -- and the play on the field improved dramatically this season because of more all-around talent, better depth and a new, innovative offense.

"It does make it sweeter (being here), everything I've gone through," Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley said. "Tough times, as far as Penn State's program over the last five years. Really for these seniors, they were redshirt freshmen, true freshmen, when all of the sanctions were coming out. The school was getting hit hard by all of that.

"For those guys, in the five years they've been with the team, to go from the darkest time in Penn State history to now having a chance to compete and possibly be a Rose Bowl champion in that final game, you see how things have changed. It's kind of a storybook ending for these guys."

This season has unfolded in storybook fashion for Franklin, as well, after a 2-2 start that included a loss at rival Pitt and a 49-10 drubbing at Michigan. With many wondering about the coach's future, it took a vote of confidence by Athletic Director Sandy Barbour to help calm things down and show that the university leadership remained committed to Franklin.

Nine consecutive wins later, and with talks of a contract extension in the works, it's clear Franklin will remain Penn State's coach for a long time.

"You think about all the different things we had on our plate that we had to overcome when we took the job, the situation that we walked into now and where we're at in a fairly short period of time, it's a credit to our players, it's a credit to our coaches," Franklin said.

"I also think it speaks about what Penn State is, because very few programs could survive what we've been able to work through and be able to be back so quickly."

Also getting things back quickly, USC is in the Rose Bowl just a few years after dealing with its own severe sanctions. In 2011, the Trojans were hit with a two-year bowl ban and heavy loss of scholarships from a scandal surrounding former star running back Reggie Bush, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2005 but later had to forfeit it because the program was found to have cheated.

"Both teams went through the darkest times just to find the light," USC receiver Juju Smith-Schuster said.

USC started this season 1-3, and there was talk of coach Clay Helton possibly losing his job.

The Trojans, however, responded by winning eight games in a row and have been playing as well as just about any team in the country, including Penn State.

"Just very proud," Helton said of his team. "It shows what a group of men, a group of brothers, family can do together. I think about where we were at 1-3 and the trust that we had to have in each other at that crossroads."

One other similarity between the teams is that both have made it to the Rose Bowl in large part because of unexpected sensational play by their quarterback. McSorley has had a terrific season for Penn State, and when USC turned to backup Sam Darnold after a slow start, the Trojans took off.

"It really does come full circle," Darnold said of the two heavyweight programs overcoming troubles to get to this point. "It says a lot about both teams, about the adversity we faced."