Hello Football

There’s a different gravity in the air this morning. The wind blows a little crisper, your walking gait is slightly more pronounced as if you were marching and somewhere off in the distance you can make out the whisper of a band’s brass section blowing the familiar melody of your team’s song. College football has arrived.

There’s no time quite like this in sports. The only sport that truly celebrates the beginning of its season other than football is baseball. That game kicks off its campaign each year in the spring when fans are emerging from their winter cocoons and looking forward to summer vacations and rising temperatures. The world is getting greener and daylight is winning its struggle against the horizon, giving us more hours of sunshine. It’s not hard to rouse up excitement for April baseball with those driving factors at the wheel.

Here at college football, we don’t share those benefits. The best climates are in our rear-view mirror and the first weeks of autumn signify the beginning of school and the onset of shorter days and waking up to ice-crusted windshields. The fact that the unmatched enthusiasm for this most unique of sports overcomes those natural obstacles is only a testament to how much we love this game. Face it, without college football we would hibernate like big, giant, grumpy bears.

It’s been a tumultuous decade for Penn State. The last year of the 21st century saw Penn State climb to #2 in the country before collapsing at the end of the year. Just a few months later, the Nittany Lions would represent both the first and second overall picks in the NFL Draft. It seemed as if the dawn of the third millennium anno domini would harbor a golden age for Joe Paterno and his team. Instead, fans got the opposite.

The first back-to-back losing seasons in Paterno’s tenure opened the 2000's and were followed by the historical odyssey of Larry Johnson before two-more losing campaigns that featured a combined seven victories. Times had never been darker, and it appeared as if it were the Penn State program that was hibernating.

Then a high school senior named Derrick Williams rustled the Nittany Nation from its slumber. He offered his talents to Penn State despite its recent struggles and opened the door for other gifted recruits to join him. He claimed it was because of how the Beaver Stadium fans supported a 3-7 version of the Lions during senior day against Michigan State and how this team walked into the tunnel as one. No cliques, no individuals…just one team. He encouraged a frustrated fan base by proclaiming, “Let’s take this sleeping lion to a national championship.” And then, he delivered.

While it’s true that more was expected of D-Wheels individually during his first three years at Penn State, it cannot be argued that he failed to accomplish what he set out to do. Penn State has not been below .500 since he signed his letter of20intent to play in Happy Valley and its record since his arrival is the eighth best of any school during that time. Three years, 29 wins, one unfulfilled promise. Now a senior captain, if he’s going to take us to a national championship, this has to be the year.

Still, if this season doesn’t end with a victory in the BCS Championship game, it can’t be guaranteed that it was a failure. For the first time since his thanks Daddy well-earned position as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, it appears Jay Paterno is stepping out on his own taking some responsibility. His brainchild, the Spread HD, should seal his fate one way or another. Finally*, either Lions fans will have the proof that JoePa 2.0 can’t coach at all or he will have the ultimate “in-your-face” to those who believe he’s where he is based on DNA alone.
*Finally as in, “Finally after all the other concrete evidence we have that he actually helps quarterbacks regress and can’t manage to run a consistent offense and is hopeless in the red zone.”

This is a year where Penn State can finally get over its embarrassing maize and blue roadblock. I know we say it every year, but there’s no way Michigan can beat us this year…right?

This senior class can become only the fifth in school history to play in and win four consecutive bowl games. Although no other class has ever accomplished that without either having an undefeated season or winning a national championship.

For the second time, we can watch Paterno become the all-time winningest coach in major college football history. Remember when Bobby Bowden passed Joe and everybody said Paterno would never catch him? In the last three years, Joe has “out-won” Bobby 29 – 22 and is 1-0 against him head-to-head. He trails him by only one game heading into Saturday.

There are so many things to look forward to as a Penn State fan this season, and this team has the potential to be really special. Last year, ill-timed turnovers at Michigan and Illinois and an unthinkable collapse at Michigan State spoiled what was set up to be a special season. This year, the promise of a new quarterback and scorching red-shirt freshman Stephon Greene will add explosiveness to what had been an underachieving offense. On defense, a ridiculously deep defensive line and playmaking secondary will help an inexperienced linebacking corps that is as athletic and hungry as it is green.

So let’s savor every moment of this 2008 season, from the “opening ceremony” against Coastal Carolina to the impossible gauntlet of Illinois, Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio State in consecutive weeks, because this year just might be a season to remember.