Penn State Football's Sex Scandal: Happy Valley No More

How could this happen? I was planning to write on the glories of Penn State Football and how one win against Nebraska at home next Saturday would put them in the first-ever Big Ten Championship game.

Regardless of the frustration with the duo of mediocre quarterbacks or the vanilla offense that will not allow for a relaxing victory or the constant harassment against Joe Paterno’s effectiveness, Penn State is alone on top of the Big Ten with zero losses. But I waited too long.

Penn State Sex Scandal will make this off week the most important event of the 2011 season. Former Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky has been accused of sexual assault on eight boys during a 15-year period. Sandusky orchestrated some of the best defenses in all of college football during his long tenure with the famed Linebacker U that ended in 2007.

The State College icon was revered for his tenacious schemes that always kept an average offense in the game, a rural central Pennsylvania college in the Top 20, and a massive fan base happy with sacks and pressure. He was the heir apparent to Paterno’s position, but stepped down abruptly and was rarely seen in recent seasons.

The real problem of the scandal is the amount of cover-up and knowledge of Sandusky’s actions that the University and football program knew. This close-knit football family has prided itself on legacy and graduation rates and building young players into fine adult men.

The Paterno tenure of 50 years could now be remembered as a façade for a sexual predator and an administration too feeble and scared of loss revenue and bad press to act morally and legally.

Tim Curley, the athletic director, and Gary Schultz, the vice-president of business and finance, have been accused of perjury in the case that could eventually lead to the end of Graham Spanier's university’s presidency and Joe Paterno’s reign as head coach.

Say it ain’t so, Joe. In a season only marred by one loss to Alabama, Joe Paterno could have turned the program over to Tom Bradley with confidence in recruiting and a proud and growing fan base.

Now this scandal involving a significant part of the program’s success, the players, alumni and money could drop significantly.

Instead of ending in the glorious shine of a BCS bowl, the University is scrambling to make sense of perhaps the largest scandal in Division 1A sports.

The courts will decide the fate of Sandusky, Curley, and Schultz, but the alumni and press will decide the fate of the football program. The image is tarnished regardless and no doubt the players and coaches knew of misdoings, including the iconic coach.

Children should never be in danger of sexual molestation, but when it’s done on the highest stage using the power of position, the implications will have long-lasting echoes throughout the nation.

It was a beautiful, quiet Fall day in State College yesterday as the news shook the bucolic campus. It was supposed to be a day to write about the great things the football team has accomplished, but instead I am talking about the possible decline and do doubt the marred reputation of my favorite Saturday football team.

The sun is shining, but something is different and inherently sadder in Happy Valley.