In Penn State's 33-7 loss to Miami Saturday night, the Nittany Lions' record-setting crowd of 109,313 didn't really have much to cheer about.
Penn State managed just 67 yards on offense in the first half, while Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey passed for 205 yards and three touchdowns in the first two quarters alone.
Neither of Penn State's quarterbacks could do anything against the Miami defense. Junior quarterback Matt Senneca, who was starting his first game, finished one for seven for one yard. Freshman Zack Mills did slightly better, finishing 12 for 24 with 240 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Still, despite the 26-point defeat at the hands of arguably the toughest team in the nation, Nittany Lions fans found a reason to cheer.
That reason was Adam Taliaferro.
Taliaferro, who suffered a broken C-5 vertebrae while making a tackle last Sept. 23 against Ohio State, got the biggest cheer of the night when he walked out onto the Beaver Stadium field before the game Saturday night. That's quite an accomplishment for a guy doctors said would probably never walk again.
But Taliaferro has been proving everybody wrong for months. When the 19-year-old cornerback went down with a broken neck in the Ohio State game, everybody feared the worst. Even stalwart Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno, who's been at Penn State for 36 years and bleeds Nittany Lions blue, gave a thought to retirement after watching Taliaferro's horrific injury last season.
Still, Taliaferro used the dedication he brought to the football field and used that to power his rehabilitation. Two days after the injury, Taliaferro underwent spinal-cord fusion surgery at Ohio State University and was transferred to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and then Magee Rehabilitation Hospital where he made steady steps toward recovery.
Taliaferro's biggest step came on Jan. 5, four days after his 19th birthday. He shocked everyone when, sporting a set of crutches, he walked out of Magee and got on with his life. Over the next few weeks, Taliaferro ditched the crutches and began walking unaided, even if it was with a slight limp.
During the spring, Taliaferro went back to the Ohio State University hospital and thanked all the doctors and nurses who helped him in the early stages of his injury. A couple of weeks later, Taliaferro was back on the sideline at Beaver Stadium for Penn State's annual intrasquad scrimmage.
Even though he can't play on the field anymore, Taliaferro has been keeping himself very active. He serves as a student assistant coach for the Nittany Lions' defense, helping his teammates review game tapes and attending practices. Essentially, he does the same thing he would have done had he been on the field, trying to find weaknesses in the opposing team's offense.
Other than that, Taliaferro has been doing what any other college student would be doing the first couple weeks of school ' getting used to classes, walking around campus, hanging out with his friends and basically enjoying life. However, Taliaferro's more of a celebrity now, signing autographs for students and other people who have been inspired by his courageous recovery from his injury.
Still, the important fact is Adam Taliaferro is back on campus and leading a normal life.
For Penn State fans and football fans around the world, that's something to cheer about.
