I watched with a heavy heart as Penn State's undefeated season ended un-miraculously in Minnesota. I watched in a living room with some friends, munching on your traditional pizza and wing affair with some chips/salsa and beverage accompaniments. People were mad.
By the end, if you read your news feeds through social media, it seemed apparent that the same fans that had been cheering so loudly just a few days earlier, were questioning the entire direction of the team.
The frustration came quickly. Seemingly, within the first five minutes we were watching Penn State give up touchdowns, and more shocking, it seemed relatively easy. As though Penn State didn't realize just how good their opponent was. In fact, I think the team's reaction may have resembled the collective fan base.
That fan base, which absolutely includes myself, had started to really come around to thinking that this team had a real chance at being something special, about being a potential National Championship team. They had gotten through the three game stretch that was expected to trip them up. Now coming off of a seemingly perfectly timed bye week they would go up against an undefeated Minnesota team, and at least from the fans perspective, show them who was boss and move on to the next week.
But that didn't happen.
To put it bluntly, from what I saw, we were simply outplayed. Everyone and everything played at least some factor. Whether it be from a defensive point of view, an offensive point of view, special teams, coaching and things that were under their control, I don't think anyone can be satisfied with what happened Saturday. They shouldn't be.
However that just means it's another chance to get better. It's time to practice with more focus, with more intention. Keep doing the little things, and do them well.
Don't give up and wait until next year, because there is a whole lot more to this team than that.
While Minnesota may have ended the possibility of an undefeated season, it does not mean the end of the season entirely.
Each year is its own entity; its own story and characters. This year is no different, and as this year's tale of the football team continues, I'll be looking forward to the growth of the team. There are still so many tests to come. How will the team respond the very next week? How will they respond the week after that? How will this particular group of young people, grow up right in front of our eyes?
Right now as I write this, late on a Tuesday evening, for the players, they need to have already moved on. But it's important I think for the fans to move on as well.
This is a new opportunity. It's another chance to join up with our family home here in Happy Valley. To cheer the kids and the coaches who represent the best values of Penn State athletics.
Excellence in the classroom.
Being involved in the community.
Being great at a sport and competing for championships.
That is what Penn State athletics is all about, and that hasn't changed. It has, by all accounts, been overwhelmingly embraced by every staff member and every athlete.
That's the reason I cheer for them.
We don't cheer them because they're winning or losing.
We cheer them because of how they play the game. We cheer them because they play hard.
We cheer them because they play with class (and are disciplined when they don't).
We cheer because they're just as likely to help an opponent up as they are a teammate.
We cheer because they care about the culture and the people they represent at Penn State.
We cheer because they remind us of the best of us.
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