Penn State Scandal: How Much Did Circumstance Play into Nebraska Loss?

We knew before the Penn State game even started that the scandal would do one or two things: It was either going to motivate the Nittany Lions to play better and they'd come out with guns blazing, or they would completely fold and give up as their heads wouldn't be in the game to compete.

It's got to be hard to focus on a football game when your legendary head coach was just fired and every question the media asks has to do with a former defensive coordinator molesting children.

The Nittany Lions came out flat and didn't score until the end of the third quarter. The game was very sloppy and a defensive showdown but that's pretty much what you expect when Penn State plays. It's a team that doesn't score many points and relies mainly on the running game and defense to win games. 

We knew this game was going to be slow, boring and low-scoring. That's mostly what Big Ten games are.

How much did the emotions help determine the outcome of the game? Only the players can answer that.

"It was a tough game. There were a lot of emotions going on," said linebacker Nate Stupar, who had a team-high 13 tackles. "I used the emotions to fuel the fire."

I'm sure the players did use the emotions to inspire them to play because if they had given up they wouldn't have rallied at the end of the game and nearly pulled off a comeback. The Nittany Lions could have easily rolled over after being down 10 at the half but they fought back only to lose 17-14.

Of course the incidents that were revealed over the last week weighed heavy on the players' minds and it probably played a part in the loss to Nebraska. But the Cornhuskers were the better overall team coming into this game anyway.

The circumstances didn't help Penn State in this game as they caused a million distractions but at the end of the day, the better team won.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]

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