Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547107
6 0 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M T he storm has arrived. Matt Camp- bell had been predicting it since the spring, alluding after the Blue- White Practice in April to the hard times ahead. Even then, Campbell was all too aware that the sunny optimism of Penn State's new coaching era would eventually have to give way to the hard realities of a tough college football season. "We're going to have adversity," he said. "Are we a tight-knit football team? When the tough days come, can we fight through being down 14? Can we fight through a bad quarter? A bad half? The key to our success is going to be, are we together enough to be able to fight through that?" If anything, the ominous weather sys- tem that Campbell had foreseen moved in over State College even more quickly than expected. The Nittany Lions were stunned by Wisconsin, 24-20, in their Big Ten opener, and they were dealt two more setbacks in quick succession when Northwestern crushed them, 34-13, the following weekend in Evanston and USC prevailed, 31-23, in the White Out game. Of course, there was no need to con- sult anyone from PSU's Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science to know that there was going to be some heavy weather headed to central Penn- sylvania this year. Into every new coach's life, a little rain must fall — and this par- ticular change was accompanied by a massive roster overhaul that included the arrival of 40 transfers and 15 fresh- man signees. It probably won't bring much comfort amid the Nittany Lions' recent struggles, but it is worth noting that some of the most successful coaches in program his- tory endured their own first-year strug- gles. Indeed, Penn State's five all-time winningest coaches — Joe Paterno, Rip Engle, James Franklin, Bob Higgins and Hugo Bezdek — went a combined 21-20-4 in their debuts on the PSU sideline. Early Days Bezdek and Higgins were at Penn State during the pre-modern era, with the former going 1-2-1 in 1918 and the latter compiling a 3-4-2 record in 1930. Bezdek had come to Penn State after stints at Arkansas and Oregon. Perhaps his most lasting contribution to college football came when he referred to one of his early Arkansas teams as "a wild band of razorback hogs," giving rise to a nick- name that endures to this day. For Bezdek, the Penn State job was Joe Paterno went 5-5 in his first season with the Nittany Lions before turning the program around in Year 2 with an 8-2-1 record and a Gator Bowl appearance. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS H I S T O R Y RIDING OUT THE STORM Some of Penn State's most successful football coaches had to overcome early struggles M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M