Nebraska vs Penn State: Most Compelling Images from the Joe Paterno Fallout

The Penn State scandal involving now ex-head coach Joe Paterno is one of the most disturbing tales of selfishness and blind loyalty ever witnessed by the sports community, but somehow the show must go on.

Believe it or not, like it or not, there is still football to be played.

Beyond all the allegations, the firings, and the despicable acts of rioting by the Penn State fan base, there is a football game to be played.

In fact, this is an absolutely huge game, as far as the Big Ten standing are concerned.

No. 19 Nebraska heads up to Happy Valley with a 7-2 record to square off with No. 12 and Big Ten favorite Penn State, at 8-1 and 5-0 in conference.

This is a huge game, but there is no doubting or denying that it is being played under the most emotional and strange circumstances.

Not only is this right in the middle of the fallout of the scandal, but it's senior day.

It's sure to be an emotional scene, so stay tuned to Bleacher Report as we bring you all the latest images from what will be an unforgettable day in college football, either way:

5:30 p.m. EST

Joe Paterno was the head coach of Penn State for 46 years. While much of the focus on this being the first game the Nittany Lions have played without him, let's not forget about the deeper aspects of this situation, and most importantly the alleged victims.

As a football coach Paterno's record cannot be disputed, and that's one thing I think most can agree on.

Everything else remains to be seen, but this is the image I will leave you with. It's been a very emotional day for all involved in this situation.

From the players bus pulling in, to the final press conferences, it has been draining.

It's a day none of us will ever forget.

The day Penn State moved on, without Joe Paterno:

5:15 p.m. EST

There may not be a more conflicted man in the world right now than Penn Coach interim head coach Tom Bradley.

He has reached his dream of being a head coach, at Penn State none the less, but it had to come under the circumstances with this scandal and Paterno being fired.

His team played hard, but took a huge Big Ten loss 17-14.

One could only imagine what has been going through this mans mind, and he will undoubtedly be one of the major figures that stick out from this emotional day.

5:00 p.m. EST

Not everybody is ready to move on from this scandal. In fact, truthfully this is probably only the beginning. A majority of today was focused on the community of Penn State coming together, and respecting the victims.

Nathan Fenno of the Washington Times reports on a protester at the game that dealt with a "barrage of obscenities and ridicule", which points to the deep emotion that has been at the forefront of this day.

4:50 p.m. EST

If this game wasn't surrounded by such pain and controversy the biggest story would be Nebraska getting a huge Big Ten win on the road.

The fact of the matter is the football game in itself pales in comparison to the emotion of the past week at Penn State.

It was undoubtedly a very emotionally draining time, and losing this game almost added insult to injury.

You can see it all over the faces of Penn State. They are exhausted:

4:35 p.m. EST

No man in football has a harder job, nor bigger shoes to fill than Penn State interim coach Tom Bradley.

Here is a picture of him getting some much needed appreciation from his fanbase, as tweeted by @NateBauerBWI:

It's tough to imagine the emotions he must be feeling, inheriting this team under the circumstances.

4:20 p.m. EST

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. This one from the Boston Globe must sum up a majority of Penn State's feelings:

4:10 p.m. EST

Many people, including myself, were extremely appalled and shocked with the behavior of the Penn State students and fans that took to the streets to riot after Paterno's firing.

They were nothing but classy, respectful, and reverent to the situation at the game though. If just for today, they have been redeemed:

4:00 p.m. EST

No matter your feelings on Joe Paterno in relation to this scandal, one person that many people have seemed to gloss over is his son, Jay Paterno.

Jay was on the sidelines of today's game helping coach his father's former team. Here are this thoughts after the game:

Love or hate Joe Paterno, you can't help but feel the emotion and love in Jay's statements.

3: 50 p.m. EST

Here is a very scary dose of reality surrounding this game. Yes, there was a ton of support and sportsmanship involved in this memorable game, and that is something Penn State, Nebraska and fans of college football can be proud of.

Let's not be so naive as to think the scandal, anger or controversy involved is anywhere near done though.

Here's just a small taste of the security surrounding the game, courtesy of ESPN:

3:35 p.m. EST

It was a very exciting game overall, and Nebraska ended up winning the game 17-14. The Nittany Lions made a game of it, but when all was said and done the Cornhuskers came out with a huge road win.

This was much more than a college football game, but here are some more images of the game:

3:30 p.m. EST

With less than a minute left this is a three point game and Penn State has the ball. Beyond the scandal, beyond all the anger and everything else surrounding this game, there has been a very good Big Ten football game.

Here are some of the images from the actual game itself:

3:10 p.m. EST

Before the game began we witnessed arguably one of the greater displays of sportsmanship and community that the world of sports has ever offered us. There has been a lot of violence, anger, and shame regarding this scandal, but before the game both teams got together to pray for wisdom, peace and forgiveness.

Here is the actual video of what was said during that time:

3:00 p.m. EST

Through all the emotion, scandal and controversy, there is a very good football game going on right now between Penn State and Nebraska.

Even though Paterno is not coaching this game, his presence can be felt everywhere.

2:52 p.m. EST

If you've been watching the Nebraska vs. Penn State game on the television, chances are you've seen this message from new Penn State President Rodney Erickson:

Perhaps it's just a good public relations move, but I do truly believe that the whole community of Penn State is reeling right now, and this is a great gesture by the new president to try to bring some kind of stability, as well as save face.

2:40 p.m. EST

Given the nature of the scandal and the alleged crimes that Jerry Sandusky committed, not everybody is content with supporting Peterno and Penn State.

In fact, some are taking an incredibly radical approach.

WARNING: THE PICTURE YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE IS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND MAY BE OFFENSIVE. IT IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR WORK SITUATIONS, SO VIEW AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. IT DOES NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF MYSELF OF BLEACHER REPORT.

The following can be found on Westboro Baptist Church's twitter account:

Unfortunately, there is no way we could make this up. This is just a taste of the signage they are wielding.

2:10 p.m. EST

This is obviously one of the biggest news stories as of late, if not one of the biggest stories to ever come out of the sports world.

Even President Barack weighed in on the issue, as tweeted by the Associated Press:

1:52 p.m. EST

What is football without tailgating right? Like I said, even through this tragedy life has to move forward, which means football is being played:

All of the different view points and perspectives about this scandal are conflicting and controversial to say the least.

1:40 p.m. EST

It's tough to imagine that this is the first time Joe Paterno is not coaching a Penn State game in 46 years.

Here is a picture from nj.com outside of his house, where he is very much so being supported by the community:

Even though Paterno may not be in the best graces with many people, the Penn State community is standing by him.

1:30 p.m. EST

There is no doubt that this is not your average football game, even though on the scoreboard and in the record books it will look like one.

Chris Spielman of ESPN talked a bit about the atmosphere at the game:

Obviously there is a mixture of a ton of emotions today, and somehow there is a football game being played.

1:10 p.m. EST

Lost in all of this was the fact that today was senior day for the football team. Senior day is usually known for being a very emotional game for the home team, but this is obviously not your typical senior day game. Check out the video of this emotional moment for the seniors.

I highly doubt any of the seniors ever thought that this game would be played without Paterno on the sideline. It had to be a very odd feeling.

Interim head coach Tom Bradley probably never envisioned his first game as a head coach under these circumstances, but here he is facing the biggest, and i'm sure most surreal, moment of his life:

1:00 p.m. EST

Here is a closer look at the midfield prayer between Penn State and Nebraska from cbssports.com:

Given the magnitude of the game in relation to the Big Ten standings, this was easily one of the biggest shows of sportsmanship I have ever seen.

I feel like I will be saying this a lot, but this is easily the most emotional moment I have seen before a sporting event. Here's a twitpic from Sean Callahan documenting the pregame prayer between Nebraska and Penn State on the middle of the field:

This is a huge game for both teams, yet they got together to show unity in prayer.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and the scene at the center of the field is worth far more then that. If you thought that was emotional, here is the video:

Undoubtedly one of the most emotional moments I have experienced in sports, and it was an exceptional showing of sportsmanship and unity.

Here is some of the Twitter reaction regarding the incredibly emotional pregame on the field:

Pat Forde:

John Ourand:

There is no doubt that it was one of the most emotional scenes I have personally seen, and the majority of people sounding off on the pregame seem to agree.

This may undoubtedly be one of the most emotional images of the day, both for fans and the team. Here is a video of the team bus pulling up to incredible fanfare:

Lee Corso of ESPN's College Gameday got caught for a minute with his mic on, but that's not the real story in this image.

This will be a game filled with a ton of emotion, and nothing is more emotional than watching this team try to rally together in the aftermath of this horrible scandal.

While nothing about this scandal has been good, it is important to note that these players had nothing to do with it. Their 8-1 season has essentially been tarnished, so it's good to see that they are getting a very unified welcome.

Here is another, yet equally emotional, view of the bus pulling up:

Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated snapped an interesting twitpic of a man wearing a Joe Paterno mask:

He then tweeted a picture of some of the crowd at Penn State, and you can distinctly see a man giving a high-five to a statue of Paterno.

Even though he's not there, there is no question that Paterno's presence is everywhere.

Brett McMurphy of CBSsports.com was able to snap this image via his Twitter of a Penn State fan quoting Albert Einstein:

This is obviously a very emotional day with many people choosing to deal with it in many different ways. Quoting one of the smartest men to ever walk this earth is a good place to start.