Penn State Bids Farewell to a Special Group of Seniors

Story posted November 21, 2012 in CommRadio, Sports by Dan Cronin

This past summer Penn State’s entire roster found itself at a crossroads. Players could either recommit themselves to the program they chose coming out of high school or leave to finish their careers elsewhere.

All but one senior chose to stay with Penn State and this Saturday the senior class will run out of the tunnel at Beaver Stadium for the last time as they play their final game as Nittany Lions.

This year’s senior class gave the football program a major lift during a time of need. They helped Penn State to a winning season thanks to their outstanding play on the field and strong leadership off it.

The fifth year seniors on the roster began their time at Penn State in 2008. They spent their redshirt year watching another terrific senior class lead the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

Since then the program has undergone a number of major changes, but the leadership that this group has shown throughout it all makes them deserving of being regarded as one of the best senior classes in the history of Penn State Football.

Head coach Bill O’Brien said at his weekly press conference that he was impressed with the way his seniors performed after being put through so much.

“They have hung tough, dealing with the NCAA and the sanctions that came out in the summer time,” O’Brien said. “They’ve been through the fact that they had to lead this football team and keep these guys together.”

Leading the way for Penn State all season was linebacker Michael Mauti. He has served as the emotional leader of the team all year and his play on the field made an impact every single week. Mauti suffered a knee injury last week against Indiana and will not be able to play this week. He made 95 tackles this season, had 2.5 sacks and led the team in interceptions with three.

One of Mauti’s most notable games in his career came this season against Illinois where he registered six tackles and had a pair of interceptions. For his effort he was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.

Michael Zordich has also emerged as one of the team’s leaders this year. He and Mauti gave a statement in July reaffirming their commitment to the program along with several other players. Zordich was one of Penn State’s more physical players during his career and contributed as both a tailback and fullback.

Many of Zordich’s career highlights came against Temple. He scored late touchdowns in the 2010 and 2011 games that sealed Penn State victories. This season against the Owls, he rushed for a career high 75 yards. He also had a two touchdown game against Purdue this year.

Quarterback Matt McGloin came to Penn State as a walk-on and it was unclear if he would ever play. Fast forward a few years and McGloin now owns several Penn State passing records. After two years of inconsistent play he has improved greatly this year and many pundits point to the coaching of Bill O’Brien that made the difference.

McGloin passed for over 3,000 yards this season and has 23 touchdown passes. He had a career game last week against Indiana where he threw for 395 yards and four touchdowns.

One of the unsung heroes of this senior class is center Matt Stankiewitch. He has 26 career starts, which is second most on the team. Stankiewitch was the only returning starter from last year’s offensive line and has anchored the unit all season.

Gerald Hodges and Jordan Hill were major contributors to Penn State’s defense during their careers. Hill has the most career starts of any player on the team with 27 and Hodges is third on the team with 25.

Hodges leads the team in tackles with 102, which makes him the sixth player in program history to have multiple seasons of over 100 tackles. He earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors for his game against Northwestern this year.

Hill has been a force on the defensive line his entire Penn State career. More fell on his shoulders this year, but he remained very productive. He made nine  tackles and a sack against Iowa this season and played an integral role in limiting the Hawkeyes to 20 rushing yards for the game.

Prior to Saturday’s game Penn State will honor 30 seniors from their roster. This is a group that went above and beyond expectations by helping to hold the program together. They may not have the accomplishments of previous senior classes, but they deserve a special place in program history.

Dan Cronin is a junior majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, e-mail djc5353@gmail.com.