The No. 10 Penn State football team needed a comeback late in the 4th quarter to force overtime in order to beat a game Appalachian State team, 45-38 in overtime.
Eleven seasons ago, Appalachian State stunned the college football world by beating Michigan. They almost did it again, but an interception ended it all. A dramatic win for Penn State, a heartbreaking loss for Appalachian State and one of the best games you'll see at Beaver Stadium.
"Our first game, fight through adversity, scoring goes back and forth. We go up a little bit, they fight back. We go up again, they fight back and then we go down. Now we got to go back and score to force the game into overtime. It's a big moment for our guys to have to grow up quick," senior quarterback Trace McSorley said. "I think that's one of the great things that we did as a team and as a offense is a lot of guys had to step up and make plays when it was their turn to."
"We had to get back on the field and finish what we had to finish," freshman wide receiver K.J. Hamler said. "So, Trace (McSorley) said 'I got you. You got me,' and I was like 'I got you back.' I told everybody I got their back. We always work together and we drove down the field and just scored. We had to do what we had to do to put the team on our backs."
"It makes it very special, but I really don't want this to be about me," junior running back Miles Sanders said. "I want to thank the O-line, our offense, our defense, the whole team and the fans, and give kudos to App State. They played a helluva game, like I said and it was a special moment, though. It was a special moment. We got it down when it counted."
So of course, a game with nearly 900 yards of offense ends suddenly, on a defensive play, and what a play.
"I kind of baited the quarterback by looking at the man, showing man, even took a re-step in it and then ultimately opened my hips and then got the little vertical seem and made a play on it," senior corner back Amani Oruwariye said on his game-winning interception. "It says a lot. It says we're a gritty team and we're gonna fight until the end. Coach (James) Franklin always says every great team always has that tough game throughout the season. Maybe this was ours right here, but we're just glad to come out with a win."