What Impact Will Penn State Scandal Have on Cornhuskers Saturday?

Nebraska must travel to State College, Pennsylvania Saturday to play Penn State in a must-win game for the Cornhuskers. That is not the story.

The story is the sexual abuse scandal that is surrounding the Penn State University. I am not going to go into details about the scandal because I believe most of you know what has happened and if not there are plenty of other articles that cover that topic.

What I am writing about is how this scandal will affect the teams involved.

The scandal at Penn State University is the top story in sports right now. Whether Nebraska likes it or not, the Cornhuskers are caught in the middle of it.

After losing last week’s game to Northwestern at home, Nebraska must find a way to win this game if they want a shot at the Big Ten Championship game.

Nebraska players have to be somewhat distracted by the hornet’s nest they are flying into this weekend.

Coach Bo Pelini has his work cut out for him this week trying to get a team that was obviously unfocused  last week against Northwestern to become focused in a situation where the entire country will be watching.

Media will not be asking the Cornhusker player questions about stopping the Penn State running game or if Nebraska has the ability to move the ball on a good Penn State defense. Questions will be about how the scandal has affected their ability to prepare for this game.

Of the two teams playing in this game, I believe Nebraska will have a much easier time dealing with the situation than the Penn State players will.

Penn State players will be asked about this situation constantly at school, in their dorm rooms, and outside of practice. Does anyone think the discussion at the pregame meal for Penn State will be about how to stop Nebraska’s quarterback Taylor Martinez? I doubt it.

 I believe the conversation between Penn State players will be about their coach, their future, and what the atmosphere will be like at the game.

It would be best if Penn State made Coach Joe Paterno unavailable for this game.

It does not matter if you think Paterno did the right thing or if you think he made the wrong decision. The fact is that if Penn State allows Paterno to coach this game, it is going to turn into pep rally for those who support Paterno and a protest for those who oppose him.

It would be best for both schools and their players for Paterno to be taken out of the equation.

The bottom line is that this game will not be won by the team that is more talented or has the better offense of defense this season. The team that wins this game will be the team that is able to put the scandal to the side and focus on the team on the opposing sideline.

I think that team will be Nebraska.

 Although Nebraska players have to deal with the situation because they are the team opposite Penn State this week, the Cornhuskers do not have to live in the situation 24 hours a day as the Penn State players do.

I have seen teams in sports that had to overcome adversity before, but never like this. I find it hard to believe that the Penn State players will be able to concentrate on Nebraska this week.

This scandal is not good for anyone involved; the victims, the players, the coaches, or the fans. If one team had to be helped or hurt by the scandal I believe Nebraska would be helped while Penn State is hurt.

Whoever wins this game, the storyline will not include any of the players or stats. The scandal will be the story and hopefully in the last paragraph it will say…. “And the Cornhuskers won the game. “