They Still are Penn State
One of the more intriguing things a sport psychologist attempts to analyze and understand is the way that athletes respond to pressure, criticism, and adversity. I do not think there is a University that experienced more adversity this past off-season, heck, probably in the entire last decade, than Penn St. We all know what happened, and I don’t intend to dive into any of the specifics. What I would like to do is look at the situation that the Penn St. football team finds themselves in and how everything that has happened to this team will affect their performance on the field week 1 at home against the University of Ohio.
What makes this game interesting from the betting angle is how much money came in on Ohio early after the opening number was seen to be as high as 13 initially. We saw this price consistently tick down before it settled at 6 for the past few weeks. It is my impression that this number is now too low, for a few reasons: I really believe that there is a unique emotion and sense of unity that surrounds a team, a school, and the fans after experiencing a tragedy similar to what has happened over the last year. I think if there was any game that Nittany Lion nation—the players, the coaches, and the alumni included—were to band together, it would be week 1 versus Ohio, at home, in a house filled with over 107,000 screaming fans, friends, and family.
Sure the Penn St. football team might not be as talented as in the past, but the remaining players on this team chose to stay at the University and represent their school. There is no doubt in my mind they will be fighting for everyone involved in the mess that WAS Penn St. I don’t care if it was their B Team taking the field Saturday, if there was one game that the Nittany Lions use to turn the page and start the new chapter, not only for the football program and the school but also for all those affected by the tragedy itself, it is going to be week 1.
In 1970 Marshall lost their football team in a freak plane crash. The school and community were faced with more adversity than probably any other school before. While the Penn St. situation is on a vastly less severe scale than what happened to Marshall in 1970, the football program turned it completely around the following year to win week 1 at home against Morehead St. The Thundering Herd followed that up with a 52-3 loss at Toledo and finished the season with a 3-6 record struggling to compete week to week… but they won week 1 at home. I also don’t care if Penn St. doesn’t win another game the rest of the season, they will not let themselves lose this first one.
The line has fluctuated between -5.5 and -6.5 the last week or so, seen -6 most everywhere at one point before settling with the hook and I think that the over reaction to what has happened to this football program offers some value to the Nittany Lions. There is no such thing as a lock but the sports psychologist in me makes this my favorite play on the card Saturday. This football team and community will band together, play through the emotion and the pride, and get the win (and cover) at home against Ohio. After all, They Are Penn St.
