Urban Meyer just handed Penn State fans a little reminder of one of the loudest nights in Beaver Stadium history.
On his podcast, The Triple Option, Meyer revisited the 2016 White Out and pointed to the Block Six - Marcus Allen’s blocked field goal that Grant Haley scooped and returned for the game-winning touchdown against Ohio State - as a play that, in his view, should have drawn a penalty.
“By rule, you can’t physically pull the field goal protector out of the way for the guy jumping through. And Penn State, the one win they got against us in 2016, they blocked a field goal,” Meyer said, describing the play.
“I turned it in, and I didn’t bitch a lot about it; my fault that we ran the field goal team on late.” Adding, “they later came back and said that could have been and should have been a penalty.”
The clip making the rounds from July 14, 2026, shows Meyer and Dan Worthington talking through the sequence and Meyer calling it a missed call that cost his team.
And yes, the play does show Curtis Cothran, then a senior defensive tackle for Penn State, pulling Brady Taylor out of position so Allen could come through the middle and get a hand on Tyler Durbin’s kick. So Meyer isn’t inventing the penalty out of thin air. But for Penn State fans, hearing the coach on the wrong end of that moment complain about it all these years later is still pretty sweet.
That night remains one of the defining flashpoints of the James Franklin era, and one of the rare times Penn State got the better of Ohio State. Franklin beat the Buckeyes only once during his 12.5 years in Happy Valley, which is also part of why he’s now in Blacksburg and not in Happy Valley.
There’s also the bigger sting attached to that season. Penn State’s 2016 run ended with the Big Ten title, but the Nittany Lions still missed the College Football Playoff because of two losses: an early setback to Pitt and a 49-10 defeat at Michigan two weeks later. Ohio State, despite losing that head-to-head meeting, got the No. 3 seed and joined Alabama, Washington, and Clemson in the field.
The Buckeyes then fell to Clemson 31-0 in the semifinal, which was the first round at the time.
Penn State finally got back to the CFP eight years later, in 2024, even after losing again to Ohio State in the regular season.
And for Matt Campbell, there’s at least one small break in the schedule ahead: Ohio State isn’t on Penn State’s 2026 slate, giving him some breathing room before facing Ryan Day.
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For the Cornhuskers, the timing matters because the running back room is open enough for newcomers to make a case, and Hayes arrives with enough background to be more than a camp body. His path has already taken him from Happy Valley to junior college and now to Lincoln, which adds another layer to a rivalry thread that has quietly been building between Nebraska and Penn State in the recruiting and transfer space. [Read more 🡒]
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Penn State Staff Sees Real Promise In Rocco Becht And Real Concerns
Penn States quarterback evaluation of Rocco Becht has a familiar blend of praise and polish-the-rough-edges realism. Offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser and quarterbacks coach Jake Waters pointed to the traits that make Becht stand out ahead of the 2024 season, starting with his competitiveness and the way he processes the game. They also liked the arm talent and the deep-ball accuracy that lets receivers run under throws, which is the kind of trait coaches notice quickly when theyre trying to project how a passer will handle bigger moments.
Waters and Mouser also saw a quarterback who can make smart decisions in tight spaces and trust himself when the windows close. Still, the conversation around Becht was not all upside, because the staff was just as direct about the areas that still need work before he can fully match the promise they see. How he handles those details in the months ahead will go a long way toward determining whether the flashes become something more dependable. [Read more 🡒]