STATE COLLEGE — Bill O’Brien has turned into Penn State’s steady, even-keeled rock through tough times, but even he’ll allow himself to be a little nervous before his first game as Nittany Lions coach.

After all, a new era is about to begin in Happy Valley.

“I will certainly have butterflies before this game. I’d be crazy to tell you otherwise,” he said Tuesday about Saturday’s season opener against Ohio. “I mean, this is my first football game as a head football coach.”

O’Brien expects those nerves to disappear come kickoff once he settles into the routine of coaching.

And yet almost everything else about Saturday won’t be routine, either.

It’s the first season opener at Penn State with Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno as head coach since 1965.

It’s the first game since the NCAA meted down landmark sanctions on the program.

Nine players have moved on since the penalties were announced July 23, most notably 1,200-yard rusher Silas Redd.