No. 10 Penn State football picked up a thrilling 53-39 victory over No. 17 Memphis in the Cotton Bowl Classic to cap off its third 11-win season in the past four years.

The Nittany Lions’ current senior class wrapped up its time in Happy Valley with a total record of 42-11. These seniors make up one of only three classes in program history to win 42 games throughout their collegiate careers. Among those 42 wins are a Big Ten championship in 2016 and two New Year’s Six bowl victories — Saturday’s win and its 2017 Fiesta Bowl triumph over Washington.

Penn State’s achievements on the field are obvious, but a pair of this year’s younger stars think hope this team’s legacy extends far beyond the end product.

“I would say just how the seniors stayed consistent when they first came in and just wanted to win football games,” running back Journey Brown said when asked what he wanted the team to be remembered for. “They set a standard for us. They showed us the way, and we hope to — and we will — maintain their standard. We look forward to passing that down to the younger guys when they come in.”

“I’d say the grit of this team, ” All-American linebacker Micah Parsons added. “There’s a lot of time when we’ve given up touchdowns and gone back and forth all season — turnovers, things like that. Every time we faced adversity, we overcame it most of the time. That’s what I hope we’re remembered for — for being a team that always battled.”

The 2019 senior class featured several key contributors to this year’s team — including four defensive starters in Cam Brown, Jan Johnson, John Reid, and Garrett Taylor along with punter Blake Gillikin — but it was Brown and Parsons who earned offensive and defensive MVP honors, respectively, in Saturday’s Cotton Bowl Classic.

The vast majority of Penn State’s contributions on both sides of the ball came from underclassmen. Two redshirt sophomores and one true sophomore — Sean Clifford, Jonathan Sutherland, and Pat Freiermuth — served as team captains this year. Clifford won 10 games in his debut season as a starting quarterback, Freiermuth was one of his favorite targets with seven touchdowns, 468 receiving yards, and 41 catches, which all ranked second on the team.

Head coach James Franklin noted that the Nittany Lions didn’t have many expectations on the team during his postgame press conference — so the fact that his team finished with an 11-2 record is quite the feather in its cap.

“Before this season started, nobody was really talking about Penn State,” Franklin said. “We think this team kind of laid the foundation for our future.”

Although the Nittany Lions’ younger players were definitely responsible for the vast majority of this team’s success this year, the seniors definitely had their moments — and they get to go out on top because of them.

One of those moments was, of course, Garrett Taylor’s game-changing pick-six late in the third quarter.

“[The pick-six] was an overflow of emotions,” Taylor said postgame. “I was just doing my job in the right place at the right time. To go out as a senior, captain, 11-win season, New Year’s Six bowl win — I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I told these guys in the locker room that I love each and every one of them. To have this group go out the way we did felt amazing.”