There was plenty of irony in the way Penn State lost its football game, 17-14, to Nebraska on Saturday at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa.
What the No. 12-ranked Nittany Lions had to offer during the game came too little, too late.
Trailing 17-0 midway through the third quarter, Penn State rallied to pull within a field goal with more than five minutes left but No. 19 Nebraska held on.
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The Nittany Lions had the ball twice in the last 3 minutes 52 seconds, but couldn’t score.
The way the game ended, perhaps symbolically, was chaotic.
Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin completed a pass to Devon Smith in the middle of the field as the final seconds ticked down. The Nittany Lions barely got another play off, but McGloin was rushed and was only able to get off another short pass to the middle of the field that fell incomplete.
The loss was Penn State’s first in Big Ten Conference play after five wins. The Nittany Lions are 8-2 overall but have road games against two tough opponents, Ohio State and Wisconsin, to finish the regular season.
Nebraska improved to 8-2 overall, 4-2 in conference play.
Interim Coach Tom Bradley spoke during a television interview afterward about how proud he was of his team.
“I think you saw a lot of character, a lot of resolve, by this team,” he said. “I liked the way they stuck together … we fought hard.”
He then turned his attention to the alleged victims in the child sex-abuse scandal that has rocked Penn State’s program.
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