Penn State's calendar year was incomplete.
The Nittany Lions won 10 games in 2009, but they had not beaten a ranked team. Quarterback Daryll Clark rewrote the school record book, but he had failed to deliver in clutch moments against worthy opponents.
On the first day of 2010, the then-No. 11 Lions validated their season and Clark solidified his legacy. He directed a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter to beat then-No. 13 LSU, 19-17 and win the Capital One Bowl.
"I was just so excited to come out and play," Clark, a senior captain, said after the game. "There was no doubt in my mind that everybody was ready to play. This bowl practice and this preparation was so good, both offensively and defensively."
Clark executed a 12-play,
65-yard drive that took five minutes, 57 seconds and ended with a 21-yard Collin Wagner field goal with 57 seconds remaining to clinch the win.
Wagner went 4-for-4 on the day to cap his up-and-down season and seemingly cement his hold on kicking responsibilities for next season. Whether someone can bring the offense into so much as field goal range next season is one of several lingering questions.
True freshman quarterback Kevin Newsome, the top reserve to Clark, saw limited action throughout this season and has yet to prove his mettle in a tough situation.
The day after the Capital One Bowl, coach Joe Paterno expressed disappointment at not getting a chance to play Newsome more this season, though he made it clear that the feelings weren't toward the signal caller.
"I haven't seen him in a tough football game where he's got to handle the whole football team," Paterno said. "But I'm not disappointed in anybody. I like our squad. I like him. I just don't know enough about some of our kids."
A full season with the team will likely give Newsome a leg up over incoming recruits Paul Jones and Robert Bolden for the starting quarterback spot. But Paterno would not rule out wide receivers Brett Brackett and Curtis Drake as options. Both players were quarterbacks in high school.
Compounding matters will be a much more difficult road schedule.
The Lions finished this season ranked No. 9, behind No. 7 Iowa and No. 5 Ohio State, the only two teams to defeat them this season. If Penn State wants to exact revenge in 2010, it will have to do it on the road, as it travels to both Iowa City, Iowa and Columbus, Ohio next season.
Should the Lions get back to a New Year's Day bowl, there will be little question of their legitimacy, thanks to a different outlook in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes and the Buckeyes both won BCS bowl games this season, and the Big Ten finished with a 4-3 record in bowls, its first winning postseason record since 2002. Both Iowa and Ohio State will likely be top-10 teams in preseason polls.
But by the time of those trips, Penn State will have likely already played the No. 1 team in the nation. A first-year quarterback will take the field for the Lions in their first road game on Sept. 11 at Alabama, which defeated Texas Jan. 7 to win the BCS National Championship.
Only then -- a week after a home date with Football Championship Subdivision opponent Youngstown State -- will questions start to be answered about a team replacing six defensive starters, both starting offensive tackles and a record-holding signal caller.
