STATE COLLEGE - Few, if any, Penn State players had an inkling of what a win over Maryland meant before they took the field. Those watching from a distance realized it as soon as the game kicked off.
Penn State, for the first time since 2016, is headed to the Big Ten Championship Game. It's 44-7 win over Maryland - aided by Michigan's upset win over No. 2 Ohio State - vaulted Penn State to second place in the standings and a shot at its first Big Ten title in eight years.
But almost none of the Nittany Lions realized they'd secured a spot the Big Ten Championship until after the game. Many of them were too keyed into Maryland to notice - or care.
"We were actually getting ready for the game, so I couldn't really watch it," Jaylen Reed said. "I think it was like 40 seconds left, and it was like 13-10. Michigan just kicked the field goal. I watched the last drive, and that's all I saw."
Circumstances aside, Penn State's win was one worthy of its reward. Three sacks in the first quarter might have stuck out had Penn State not tallied six come game's end. Maryland quarterback M.J. Morris lost more yards on sacks than his team netted in the entire third quarter.
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The Lions forced seven punts. Aside from a Maryland touchdown 14 seconds into the game off a lost fumble - a turnover the Lions defense repaid five times over - Penn State let Abdul Carter air out the Terrapins offense and rack up two sacks himself - bringing his total to 10 this year.
Carter, however, still wants improvement. Not just for himself, but a defense-wide development. The Lions' spot is all but guaranteed, but the junior doesn't want a win over a team that ended the year in a five-game tailspin to inspire undue confidence.
"We just got to keep finding ways to get better," Carter said. "Obviously, we played well tonight, but there was also areas where we can improve on and be better at. We've got to get that right tomorrow and just be more prepared."
Maryland is not Oregon. That goes without saying. Carter knows it, and so does the rest of Penn State. Oregon is the No. 1 team in the nation for good reason - a close win over Ohio State being the crux of its argument.
That win might lose a bit of luster after the Buckeyes lost to a middling Michigan, but Oregon still totes an undefeated record and hosed almost every Big Ten opponent that's come its way. Penn State has big wins as well, but it still missed out with its own loss to Ohio State back in Week 8.
"This is the most competitive Big 10 there's ever been," Penn State coach James Franklin said. "When you play as many games as we do now in college football and the type of opponents that we play, you're going to have to find different ways to get it done. It may not always be pretty, but I also think that's the beauty in it, right?"
Penn State looked good Saturday. Good enough - and lucky enough - to reach the Big Ten Championship Game that's eluded it for so long. But earning that championship title is another story, and so is doing it against the current No. 1 team in the country.