Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Game will be decided on mental focus, not scandal

The game will continue. In case you are wondering, there still is a football game scheduled at Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley, Pa., between No. 19 Nebraska and No. 12 Penn State.


When Nebraska made its decision to enter the Big Ten Conference, this matchup was one that made college football purists smile. Both programs have remained status quo as far as uniforms that have changed very little. That aspect is very refreshing compared to the Star Wars age uniforms like Oregon and Maryland. Both programs have also had iconic coaches: Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne for Nebraska. Joe Paterno for Penn State.

Sadly, Paterno was fired by the Penn State board of trustees Wednesday night despite saying he would retire as coach after the football season ended, brought down by the growing furor over the handling of child sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach. Penn State President Graham Spanier was also ousted. I won’t go into details because you can read my previous blog entry: http://napavince.blogspot.com/2011/11/huskers-head-to-penn-state-but-will.html I also made my feelings for Paterno abundantly clear.

The story surrounding Saturday unfortunately is not about how Penn State’s stingy defense matches up against Nebraska’s quarterback/running back combination of Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead. It’s not about how will Nebraska bounce back from its disturbing 28-25 home loss to Northwestern. This week has been about the sexual abuse scandal that is surrounding Penn State University. It is unequivocally the top sports story. Even more than the NBA lockout. Gee, what a tired act that is.

I was talking to a college friend of mine who lived in the same residence hall as I did at the University of Nebraska on Tuesday. This friend intimated that he was “worried about this game. Can you imagine our players losing Tom Osborne’s last game?” Of course, this conversation came Tuesday night, before Paterno was ousted. With Paterno gone, defensive coordinator Tom Bradley has been named the interim head coach.

When it comes to sports teams entering a game with distractions, I find that the script is already written, it’s just a matter of what the outcome is and which script fits best. If Penn State wins, the angle becomes “they were galvanized and wanted to win it for JoePa.” If Nebraska wins, the angle becomes, “Penn State had too many distractions.” I say BS; football games are decided by who makes more plays and fewer mistakes. It also comes down to mental toughness and the ability to block out distractions.

Remember 1995? Perhaps the best team Nebraska ever assembled had several distractions throughout the season off the field whether it was Lawrence Phillips, Christian Peter or Tyrone Williams. That Husker team still went 13-0 and pounded Florida into submission in the National Title Game 62-24. However, that was also before the Facebook, Twitter, and text message era. Yes, you had the internet and message board but you also didn’t have current and former players facebooking, tweeting, message boarding, etc., so it was much easier for players and coaches to insulate themselves from distractions. Granted, the internet and message boards existed but were not en vogue even remotely like now.

Remember 2007? Perhaps the worst Nebraska team since post-1960. That team had the talent but underachieved to a 5-7 season. It also had numerous distractions centering around the job status of athletic director Steve Pederson, head coach Bill Callahan and defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove. That Husker team lost six of its seven games in supremely decisive fashion.

Look at pro sports; the week that Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis died they beat the Houston Texans 25-20. The angle became, “They did it for Al. They just won, baby!” However, if Oakland safety Michael Huff does not intercept Texans quarterback Matt Schaub in the end zone, the angle becomes, “The Raiders were weighed down by too many distractions.”

By no means am I dismissing the “distraction factor.” Even though, for lack of a better term, Paterno’s mistakes of omission rather than commission does not directly affect the Huskers, Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini will need to get his team focused on the task at hand. Keep in mind; this was a Husker team that lacked such in an inexcusable home loss to Northwestern.

Nebraska players and coaches are not going to get asked ad nausea about the situation like Penn State. Especially with the Huskers being the visiting team. Penn State players will be asked about this situation everywhere they turn whether it is at school or outside of practice.

In one respect this game does not change for Nebraska even if you remove the Penn State scandal from the equation. It would have been a challenging and important game regardless.

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.

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