Lost amid the allegations against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and the firestorm that has ensued is the fact that the No. 12 Nittany Lions have a huge game on Saturday against the No. 19 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Penn State currently leads the Big Ten Leaders Division with a 5-0 conference record and a record of 8-1 overall. The Nittany Lions will have to do something they haven’t done since 1965, however, and that is play a game without Joe Paterno has head coach.
Paterno was fired by the Penn State Board of Trustees for his failure to report an incident involving Sandusky and a young boy, which was told to him by assistant coach Mike McQueary. Despite everything that is going on at Penn State, the show must go on.
Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley was introduced as the interim head coach on Thursday, and he will be patrolling the sidelines of Beaver Stadium on Senior Day. While Bradley said he expected business as usual against the Huskers, it is hard to imagine that Paterno’s dismissal won’t have an effect on the players.
As much as the players have probably been trying to focus on football for the past week, the Sandusky scandal has to be wearing on them. Not only has it cost them their beloved coach, but it has also made a mockery of the university they take pride in playing for.
If that weren’t enough, it isn’t as if the Nittany Lions are playing some cupcake opponent on Saturday. Nebraska is just one game back in the Big Ten Legends Division and will be just as desperate to win as Penn State likely will.
The Cornhuskers feature one of the top running games in the nation thanks to quarterback Taylor Martinez and running back Rex Burkhead. Because of that, Nebraska will be a major test for Penn State’s stout defense, and you have to wonder if the distractions will make things even tougher.
Ultimately, the Nittany Lions can go one of two ways in this game. They can either completely crumble and let the Huskers walk all over them, or they can step up and play for new coach Tom Bradley.
As much as Penn State wants to win this game, and as much as the players probably respect Bradley, I think the scandal and Paterno’s firing will just weigh too heavily on their minds. Nobody will blame the Nittany Lions if they lay an egg in light of what has happened, and I believe that is exactly what will occur.
