It is probably a safe assumption that the leftovers from the Thanksgiving feast were devoured well before the four-day holiday football indulgence gave way to December’s arrival. Dubbed ‘rivalry weekend,’ the concluding week of the college football regular season lived up to its billing, featuring exciting games and upsets with positive results for Eagles and Steelers fans sprinkled in.

For Nittany Lions followers, aside from the annual loss to Ohio State, the season has produced plenty to cheer about. The unexpected pre-Christmas gift provided by Michigan’s victory over the Buckeyes gave the Blue & White the opportunity to play for the Big Ten Championship last Saturday against the number one ranked Oregon Ducks in Indianapolis. Regardless of the outcome, PSU looks to claim an even bigger prize with the start of the 12-team national championship chase this weekend.

Ohio State’s stumble against the Wolverines, their fourth loss in a row to their most heated rival, reached Penn State’s locker room just before they took the field against Maryland. Now, with a chance to play for the Big Ten Title, just one win away, perhaps the old coaching axiom of ‘taking things one game at a time’ took a back seat to the anticipation of what could be. On the game’s opening kickoff, Penn State fumbled, with the Terrapins recovering. One play later, Maryland struck for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead before the chill of the afternoon could even engulf the 100,000 faithful on hand.

The suddenness of the deficit was short-lived, as PSU rolled to a completely dominant 44-7 win, their first appearance in a Big Ten championship game since defeating Wisconsin 38-31 in 2016.

But despite the euphoria of the exhilarating triumph, actions of sportsmanship were void in the game’s closing seconds. With his team holding a commanding 38-7 lead with just seconds remaining to play ‘big-game,’ James Franklin had quarterback Beau Pribula attempt two passes into the end zone from Maryland’s fifteen-yard line. The first fell incomplete. The second was caught by Tyseer Denmark for a meaningless and classless touchdown as time expired, extending the final score to 44-7.

The irrelevant touchdown was salt in the wounds of embattled Maryland coach Mike Locksley, whose team finished 4-8, including a 1-8 Big Ten record and a next-to-last conference standing. Predictably, the traditional postgame handshake between Franklin and Locksley was understandably tense.

“I asked about his family, Christmas cards, addresses, all those things,” Locksley sarcastically said. “It’s (expletive), is what it was. I respect the game. I’ve got a lot of respect for James and his program. I think it was (expletive).”

Franklin’s reaction followed the old adage, ‘If you don’t like it, try and stop it.’

“I get it, right? At the end of the game, we throw a touchdown, I get it,” Franklin said in a postgame press conference.

“There’s a change in college football; we are trying to play as long as we can. Make the playoff and be seeded as high as possible. And scoring as many points and point differential matters. All that matters. And if you don’t get that, it’s really not my problem. W. 1-0. I’m good with that. Anybody that’s not, that’s their problem.”

To Franklin’s point, PSU scored points and got to the conference championship and the 12-team national tournament. But they would have accomplished the same thing, beating Maryland 38-7 rather than rubbing it in 44-7.

Hours earlier, the ending of the Michigan/Ohio State tussle also left a black eye on ‘rivalry weekend’ for the Big Ten Conference, as a melee broke out following the Wolverines’ 13-10 win.

Buoyed by the emotion of their win, Wolverine players tried unsuccessfully to plant the Michigan flag into the artificial surface of Ohio State’s Safelite Field. A brawl between players of both teams ensued, and police reportedly used pepper spray to end the disturbance.

The Big Ten Conference determined that the actions of both teams violated the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy. Institutional fines in the amount of $100,000 were assessed to both the University of Michigan and Ohio State University while issuing the following statement.

“Not only did the actions of both teams violate fundamental elements of sportsmanship such as respect and civility, the nature of the incident also jeopardized the safety of participants and bystanders.”

Ohio State coach Ryan Day and Michigan headman Sherrone Moore had slightly different takes on what took place.

“I’ll find out what exactly happened,” Day responded. “But this is our field and certainly we’re embarrassed at the fact we lost the game. But there’s some prideful guys on our team that weren’t going to let that happen.”

“There was emotion on both sides that can’t happen,” Moore said. “Rivalry games get heated, especially this one. It’s the biggest one in the country. So, we got to handle that better…I addressed it in the locker room. We’ll address it again. But that’s both sides.”

Big Ten. Big games. Disappointing endings. With big money and coaches’ livelihoods on the line, don’t expect sportsmanship to be a priority.