STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- If one asks Nittany Lion seniors Mike Gesicki, Christian Campbell or Jason Cabinda what changed with this team's mentality since Saturday night's loss to Ohio State, the answer often circles back to the same phrase.
"Nothing changed," Campbell said Wednesday. "Adversity makes people closer. We’ve been through tough times before. Nothing changed, really."
That point was reiterated Sunday when Trace McSorley, Saquon Barkley and Cabinda texted their teammates about holding a players-only meeting. Campbell said the Lions meet regularly if people have additional questions or if one position group isn't on the same page, but the tone of this meeting was a little different.
With the Lions checking in at No. 7 in the first set of College Football Playoff rankings and clinging to what's estimated as a 14-percent chance to make the College Football Playoff, remaining positive after the team's first loss in nearly 10 months and making sure no fingers were pointed along the way was a point of emphasis.
"The team captains got up there and a few of them started talking," Gesicki said Wednesday. "Didn't get into anything too deep, but talked about that we have a ton of football left to play this season. Everything that we want is still out there and we can achieve it all ... Let's get back on a roll."
Gesicki also noted the difference in perspective surrounding this year's first College Football Playoff ranking versus last year's when the Lions came in at No. 12. At that time, Gesicki said it was like "there was a parade going on downtown" when the Lions picked up the No. 12 ranking. This time around, with heightened expectations since the Rose Bowl and four regular season games to play, he said there isn't any panic in the Lasch Football Building as the Lions hold that N0. 7 spot.
The feeling of not pressing and that all is not lost was reaffirmed during Sunday's meeting.
"I didn't really expect anyone to have any type of head-down mentality or being down. That's just not who we are as players. It's not who this team is," Cabinda said. "Not seeing that mentality wasn't very surprising to me. I know the kind of kids we have, the kind of guys we have in that locker room. It was really to reiterate it, make sure the mentality was set, anyone who was doubting that, making sure we were all pulling the rope in the same direction, which we are. To me, it was really how little convincing it took from everyone to make sure we're in the same direction, because we are. I was very pleased knowing that."
James Franklin carefully crafted his words during his Tuesday news conference, not assigning blame to any one position group or side of the ball. Saturday night, he said there was plenty of blame to go around and putting that in the rearview mirror, making the corrections and moving forward is a key part of this week's game on the road against Michigan State.
"I got to be very honest with myself, and I got to be very honest with our players and I got to be very honest with our coaching staff," Franklin said. "[I have to] ask the tough questions and be critical of the things that need to be critical, starting with me."
Penn State hasn't lost back-to-back games with McSorley as the starting quarterback, and after going 16-2 since last September, how it rebounds after a gut-punch will certainly be a gut-check.
Potentially playing for a spot in the College Football Playoff at this point in the season is also uncharted territory for this team, one that last year finished on the outside looking in, making a compelling argument as the Big Ten champs hoisted the conference hardware just hours before the rankings were released and finishing fifth. While they continue to regroup, it's still business as usual with plenty of film to watch, practices to clean up and meetings to attend before hitting the road on Friday en route to East Lansing.
"We talked about not being defensive, take the criticism to get better and learn from it," Campbell said. "Learn from the corrections and put it behind you. After the first time we made the corrections, that can’t happen again. We gotta be better."