For Penn State's Dan Connor, Memories of 2005 Resonate Still

Penn State's 2005 team took the nation by surprise. The Nittany Lions had just one winning season since 2000 and had won four games the previous year. A New York Times headlined pronounced "concerns over a fading football legend," in reference to head coach Joe Paterno. Connor said that Paterno didn't allow those concerns inside the program.

"Coach Paterno kept us focused on what's in front of us, ignoring outside noise," Connor said. "You know, he was he was really good at that. So we focused on ourselves."

The focus began in 2004. Penn State was 2-7 and on a six-game losing streak when it visited Indiana in November. The Nittany Lions led 22-16 late in the fourth quarter, when Indiana faced a 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

Penn State considered allowing Indiana to score. Instead, its defense stopped Indiana on four consecutive plays to preserve the first win of what would prove to be a nine-game streak. Indiana's fourth-down play ended less than a foot from the goal line.

"The interesting thing about the 2005 season that sticks out in my mind was the end of the 2004 season," Connor said. "It wasn't a good year. We might have had four wins, but we ended well. I don't remember if we won out the last two games or whatever it was, but I remember the goal-line stand at Indiana, and it felt like that goal-line stand was the start of the 2005 season."

A team comes together

The Nittany Lions returned an elite group of talent from that 2004 defense, which did not allow more than 21 points in a game for the entire season. Five Penn State defensive players were named first-team All-Big Ten, including Posluszny, who was voted the nation's top linebacker.

Offensively, Robinson finally took the reins at quarterback after playing running back and receiver the previous season. He capitalized on an influx of receiving talent that included three true freshmen (Derrick Williams, Justin King and Jordan Norwood) and redshirt freshman Deon Barnes. Robinson was named the Big Ten offensive player of the year.

"That's a game-changing player right there," Connor said.

Connor also played alongside a game-changing player in Posluszny. Both were two-time All-Americans and kept the Bednarik Award (given to college football's top defensive player) at Penn State from 2005-07.

"If I didn't have a guy like Paul in the class above me, it would have affected my development," Connor said. "I don't think I would have been able to develop, because I'm watching a guy who has it figured out. I'm watching him prepare himself mentally and physically for games, and I'm just trying to compete with him and keep up with him, which pushed the standard of the entire room."

Pursuing a championship 20 years later

Now, Connor is on James Franklin's coaching staff for a team that has similar championship aspirations. Fittingly, he coaches linebackers. And he often conveys the lessons of that 2005 team with his current players.

"The main takeaway for me is, you keep focused on the path of what you want to accomplish, no matter the outside obstacles," Connor said. "I say to the linebackers, 'Now focus on the path, because there's going to be outside noise, there's going to be issues, troubles. Things aren't going to go smooth. But as long as you are focusing on the path you want to take and the goal that you have, you'll stay on that.'"