Nebraska vs. Penn State: Nittany Lions Still Winners Despite Loss

The scoreboard said that Nebraska beat a Joe Paterno-less Penn State football team 17-14, but the Nittany Lions and the surrounding community still won today.

A new era started today in State College.  While I refuse to call it the post-Paterno era because the team is still a Joe Paterno team, and his sons continue to coach, that is how it may be known in the future.

This has been the worst week in Penn State football history.  Starting with the arrest of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky for a child-sex scandal, the program entered a downward spiral.

Sandusky, charged with no less than 40 counts of child sexual abuse was arrested and released on bail.  Two schools officials face perjury charges.  The Board of Trustees fired President Graham Spanier, and head coach Joe Paterno was fired in the week leading up to Senior Day.

When students heard of Paterno's firing they formed angry mobs and eventually rioted.  A news van was flipped, and there was at least one arrest.  This behavior demonstrated the outrage and sorrow felt by everyone involved in the Penn State community.

The winningest coach in college football had been fired, but life goes on.

It certainly went on today as the football team showed us.  While they did not win on the field, they helped ease the pain felt by the community.

The team did not storm the field today, but walked onto it arm-in-arm, showing the somberness of the day.  Both teams joined in a prayer at midfield prior to the game, showing that it is not only the Penn State community that realizes how significant the events have been, but the nation.

While this is not a fact, it can be speculated that the teams prayed for the victims and their families, and they cannot be forgotten in the whirlwind of news coming from Penn State.

The game took a backseat role, and it paled in comparison to the events of the day.  What really happened today in Happy Valley was life moving on.  Proof that we can continue moving forward despite the troubles holding us back.

The pain of the Penn state community was slightly eased despite losing the actual game, and it will continue to fade with time.

Life goes on.  That's the message that was sent today.  And while we can never undo what has happened, we can continue to pray for the victims and their families, and continue to move on, while never forgetting.

These are some of the morals that Joe Paterno helped teach, and it was because of him that the players found the strength to go out and help the community today.