Road Warriors
STATE COLLEGE — Somehow, some way, there’s no letdown for Penn State away from Happy Valley.
Three Big Ten games away from home, three blowouts.
But after scoring big wins at Illinois, Iowa and plunging Purdue on the road, the surprising Nittany Lions will encounter their biggest road test of the season Saturday with a trip to No. 18 Nebraska.
“We’ve been playing well on the road I’d say because it just eliminates the distractions for us,” linebacker Michael Mauti said Tuesday. “Because all we need are the guys on the bus and the guys in the locker room.
“We create our own energy.”
Distractions have been plentiful for Penn State (6-3, 4-1) over the past year. It’s a year to the week that a child sex abuse scandal was ignited by the arrest of ex-assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, plunging one of the country’s marquee football programs into turmoil.
But the resulting NCAA sanctions from the scandal haven’t dampened the team’s enthusiasm.
If anything, first-year coach Bill O’Brien has his team even more motivated to play every Saturday — even though both a conference title and bowl bid are out of reach. One of O’Brien’s favorite sayings this year is “Every game is a big game.”
“Some games we always wish that we could have back. We wish we could have coached better, played better, but when you have 12 opportunities, every single game is a big game,” O’Brien said. “This game is no bigger than any other game; it’s just another big game, against a very, very good team.”
The Nittany Lions are still eligible to win the Leaders Division title, though those hopes took a serious hit with the 35-23 loss two weeks ago to No. 5 Ohio State.
But Penn State bounced back last week with a 34-9 win over Purdue. If anything, the off-the-field stress of the last year has helped train Penn State to stay focused on what they can control — what happens on the field.
“It doesn’t matter what goes on around you,” Mauti said. “It’s all about staying focused and ignoring the things that don’t have to do with football.”
