Can we PLEASE kick Penn State's A$$ Next Year?

[Captain Kangaroo]

Is it too early for 2006 season chalkboard material?

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Penn State chooses easy route instead of rivaled one

By Ron Bracken

rbracken@centredaily.com

It was as predictable as the fate of a slow groundhog on the Benner Pike and just about as ugly.

You knew, you just had to know, that when the NCAA voted to allow its Division I-A football playing schools to add a 12th game to their seasons, Penn State would go looking for its long lost friend and doormat to fill that opening.

Instead of breathing life into the dormant rivalry with Pitt, or going after an attractive inter-sectional opponent, Penn State looked eastward where it found a willing partner in Temple.

The two schools, according to an article in Friday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, have a verbal agreement in place to play three games over a four-year span with two of those in Beaver Stadium and the other in Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field.

And doesn't that just make you want to whip out your checkbook and double your contribution to the Nittany Lion Club so you can get choice seats for those showdowns?

Assuming the 2006 Temple game is slated for Beaver Stadium on Nov. 11, which is currently an open date, that would give the Nittany Lions a home schedule of Akron, Louisiana Tech, Northwestern, Michigan, Illinois, Temple and Michigan State.

If this was the verbal part of the SAT test, the question would be which one of those schools does not belong with the others? Hint: Think helmets. Or better yet, think frequency of Rose Bowl appearances.

Can anyone, being in good health and sound state of mind, actually say that Penn State football is better served by playing Temple instead of Pitt?

OK, there is the risk of losing to Pitt to consider. But isn't that what makes a game entertaining instead of one where the Nittany Lions pull the wings off another MAC fly?

It's time to put away the tired old complaints about how Pitt used to demand that Penn State play every game in the series in Pittsburgh, about how Pitt's fans treated visiting Penn State fans shabbily when they ventured to old Pitt Stadium.

Those bleatings are deader than good intentions. In the period from the 1930s through the 1950s, Pitt was the stronger program, had the bigger stadium and more national championships than Penn State. So it had the leverage to demand an unequal number of home games in the series.

And for every Penn State fan who complained about how he or she was treated at Pitt there is a Panther fan who was treated equally shabbily at Beaver Stadium. Remember the "S--tt on Pitt" T-shirts or the "Under the arm, Pitt" chants?

And while it's those types of things that make a rivalry what it is -- you have to have some good old fashioned animosity toward the other guy -- there also has to be someone who can see the issue clearly and understand that raw emotions and petty jealousies should never be allowed to cause the demise of something as special as the Pitt-Penn State rivalry once was.

New Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt, who declined an interview request to discuss the issue, called Joe Paterno to see if the rivalry could be renewed. Nothing came of the discussion.

Wannstedt played in the game when he was at Pitt and he understands its importance, not only to Pitt but to college football fans in general.

Myopic Penn State fans take the stance that Pitt is in trouble with the demise of the Big East and can see no reason why the Nittany Lions should help the Panthers by playing them.

Let's turn that around. Why shouldn't Penn State play Pitt and help itself by playing a better opponent than Temple, which almost lost its Division I-A status for failing to draw an average of 15,000 fans per game? Temple's last winning season was in 1990. Pitt went to a bowl game last year.

You would think that Penn State would have learned its lesson during the 1970s when too many Temples, Rutgers, Ohio Universities and Can't States on its schedule cost it national respect and at least one, if not more, national championships.

It's not coincidental that it wasn't until the early 1980s, when the Alabamas, Notre Dames and Nebraskas showed up on the schedule that Penn State was accepted into elite corps of programs.

In 1982, it was the strength of schedule that gave the once-beaten Nittany Lions the edge over unbeaten SMU in the final poll to determine the national champion. The Nittany Lions played Temple and Rutgers that season but also played Nebraska, Alabama, N.C. State and Notre Dame in addition to their traditional eastern opponents.

And while it's true that Penn State was an independent in those days and could freely choose its opponents, it took advantage of the opportunity and mixed quality opponents along with the easily-beatable teams.

Once again, opportunity presented itself. But this time Penn State declined, citing a headache.

[Zipsrifle]

Their program is struggling and they are doing what they have to in order to put W's on the schedule and get to a bowl game. As we know, the fans of those schools will not put up with multiple losing seasons and sitting at home over the holidays. If they contiune to lose, Beaver Stadium will look like the RB on a July afternoon. I look for them to contiune scheduling much weaker schools till things turn around.

In the meantime, they are using their name to keep the revenue coming in, put up a good show for the recruits, and start out strong. They have 7 home games this year. Their early season schedule is a cakewalk compared to Akron's. Their first 3 games are against S. Florida, Cincy, and CMU at home and the have an excellent shot at staring out 4-0.

Again this year the headlines say the Paterno's job is on the line but it seems to me that he will be able to stay as long as he wants. I think that a W for the Zips next year in Happy Valley would be a devistating blow to their program, especially if they have another dismal year. Though I would love to see a W against PSU, I just want to get through this season with more wins than losses.

[zipsbandman]

If I see some encouraging things from this coming season, I think we may see our first Big Ten win in Happy Valley. Penn State is a dormant program at the moment, and I think we can come out big while they are at their weakest. With the amount of talent that we are bringing in and a more experienced squad, I think it will happen. We need to first build momentum this season.