College football players are taught the games are the focal point. It’s what they do all week, building to a crescendo for Saturday.
When the real world intrudes, it’s difficult to put the distractions in a box, go out on a field and keep score.
But that’s precisely what Penn State’s players plan on doing.
“You have to. I mean, what are we going (to do), come out and lose all of our games because of this?” offensive tackle Chima Okoli said Wednesday. “You know what I mean? At the end of the day, you have to own up as a man and take care of responsibilities, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
In the midst of a scandal revolving around a former assistant coach having sex with young boys — and the coverup that followed — Penn State’s players will try to put aside a world of distractions and play a game against Nebraska on Saturday. Joe Paterno, the Nittany Lions’ coach since 1966, was fired Wednesday, and defensive coordinator Tom Bradley was named his replacement on an interim basis.
The players, meanwhile, will do their jobs. That means to play games at home against Nebraska, at Ohio State and at Wisconsin over the next three weekends.
They were left to try to figure it all out while hanging onto some sense of normalcy by following their weekly routine of practice leading up to a game. Although there will not be much normal or routine about anything from now on.
“It is difficult, obviously,” safety Drew Astorino said. “We’d much rather not have to deal with these distractions and just focus on the team and focus on this game. But this is something we have to do.”
Astorino said he has no worries the Nittany Lions will come undone from a week of allegations, admissions and embarrassments.
“I think we’re going to be OK on the field,” Astorino said. “I love playing with these players, I trust these players, I care about these players more than I care about anybody right now. I think we’re going to come together as a unit, as a group of guys, as we have done so far throughout a tough week.
“Saturday, that’s exactly what we’ll need to do and what we’ll be able to do.”
On his Twitter account, Nittany Lions quarterback Matt McGloin tried to compartmentalize the crazy things happening outside the locker room.
“I do not expect this dilemma to alter our level of focus and accountability. Last home game of the year!! Let’s do it,” he wrote.
Under normal circumstances, this had the makings of a happy weekend in Happy Valley. The 12th-ranked Nittany Lions, usually the pride of the campus, are having a banner year at 8-1 overall and leading the Big Ten’s Leaders Division with a 5-0 record. The game also marks Senior Day, a last chance for the faithful at Beaver Stadium to say thanks to those playing their final home game.
Okoli said the responsibility to regroup lies with the kids, not the adult coaches. He said he and his teammates would have to make the best of a bad situation.
“In times like this, where you have outside distractions, all we can do is come together,” he said. “All we have is each other.”
No award for Curley
DALLAS — The National Football Foundation is withdrawing an award it was to present to Penn State athletic director Tim Curley.
The NFF announced the John L. Toner award, given to an athletic director who has shown “outstanding dedication to college athletics and particularly college football,” will not be presented at its award ceremony in December. The organization said there will be no winner for this year.
Curley has been charged with perjury and failure to report an alleged incident of child sex abuse by former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky to authorities, as required by state law. Curley took a leave of absence Sunday.
