James Franklin revels in Penn State's stunning win

ByCHRIS LOW
October 23, 2016, 3:11 AM

— -- STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- James Franklin leaned down and squeezed his oldest daughter, Shola, like he never wanted to let go.

"I love you, I love you," the coach repeated to Shola, who was up way past her bedtime, but nobody seemed to notice.

Not on this night, one of the best nights they've had around here in a long time. It was White Out Night at Beaver Stadium, and the Nittany Lions broke out with their first signature win under Franklin. Penn State rallied from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to send No. 2 Ohio State packing, 24-21, setting off one of those wild scenes we've become accustomed to in college football.

Just minutes after Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett was sacked on fourth down, ending any hope the Buckeyes had of pulling this one off, the field was a sea of blue-and-white-clad (and delirious) Penn State fans. One middle-aged (and bare-chested) fan exclaimed, "I forgot what this felt like. All we've had around here is misery."

For Franklin, the last 2? years probably seemed more like dog years, as he weathered massive scholarship reductions and back-to-back 7-6 seasons in his first two with the Nittany Lions.

His eyes were still moist 20 minutes after the game, as he soaked it all in.

"I don't even know that you can explain it, everything this program has been through the last five years," Franklin told ESPN.com. "No one understands what we're still going through. Nobody understands, so to see us all come together as a family and as a community, we don't do that by ourselves. It took all 107,000 fans in there going crazy."