Nebraska vs. Penn State 2011: Cornhuskers Win Irrelevant Next to Show of Unity

Nebraska beat Penn State 17-14 on Saturday. That wouldn't exactly be a shocking defeat if everything was normal at Penn State. Given everything that's happened to the Nittany Lions in the last week, the loss was certainly not surprising.

It does need to be said that this game was actually very important for both teams and where they stand in their respective divisions of the Big Ten. Nebraska kept their hopes alive in the Big Ten Legends division, while Penn State still sits atop the Big Ten Leaders division, albeit in a much more vulnerable position.

But this is not a game that will be remembered for anything that happened during it. The pregame prayer that the two teams shared was incredibly moving.

I guess we'll know this for sure in the coming days, but the fans appeared very respectful and well behaved. After seeing the images from Penn State on Wednesday night, I had some doubts that the fans would behave well at this game, even though that only represented a small portion of the schools' community. 

Yes, we did hear the occasional chant for Joe Paterno on Saturday. We also saw signs in the crowd that came out in support of him.

Frankly, there is nothing wrong with that. Paterno had to be fired, but it doesn't mean that he's unworthy of the support of anyone in a community that he's meant an awful lot to over the last half-century. 

The game we got was competitive. Obviously, a 17-14 final score does not indicate a blowout. It was not a very well played game, particularly on the offensive end.

No coaches are going to be showing footage from this one for years about how to play a great, fundamentally sound offensive football game.

But consider what each of these two teams have had to go through over the last week. A fundamentally good football game is hard enough. This week, it was just about impossible. 

When I look back at this game, I will be remembering the prayers before and after the game among the players of both schools. I'll remember that the fans appeared very respectful. I guess I'll know in a few days if that's true or not, but all signs point to it being the case. 

For a few hours, I was thinking about a football game. I wasn't before and I am not now, but that's a few hours where an ugly situation was not on the forefront of my mind. I have no affiliation to either school. Those who do had to feel the same way.