Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/155994
Through it all, PSU's hopes remain high T he refrain is familiar at any of the preseason conference media events, and it's uttered by seemingly every player and coach in attendance: They're all underdogs, and the season ahead will provide a chance to disprove the doubters and naysayers – imagined or not. The rub, of course, is that nearly every team has the same opportunity to succeed on the field as its opponents. There are varying degrees of success to which different teams can reasonably aspire, but everyone is equal in July. If there's an exception, though, Penn State would seem to qualify. The program now operates under different rules than its foes thanks to the NCAA's scholarship restrictions, which have seriously eroded the team's depth even though they have yet to officially take effect. At Big Ten media days in Chicago, team leaders Malcolm Willis and Glenn Carson both embraced the underdog role, while head coach Bill O'Brien acknowledged the manpower shortage that the Lions are facing. "I think we've got a chance to be a good, tough football team," he said. "But I would say that there's still that mentality of, 'Look, we're not on an even playing field with our numbers.' The kids are smart. They know that. So what do we have to do to overcome that and win some games? That's not an excuse for losing games, it's just the way it is." As a response, the Lions have to do more than their opponents, since they're working with less. So, apparently, they have. A few weeks ago, Willis stopped by O'Brien's office to talk. He wanted to tell his head coach that, in the five years he had been on Penn State's campus, he had never seen so much football-related work performed during the summer months. Willis said his teammates were "willing to put extra work in after workouts. When nobody has classes and it's scorching hot outside, somebody shoots somebody a text and we're outside getting extra footwork, extra ball drills. Receivers are running extra routes on their own. It's all going to pay off. It's all going to pay off come Aug. 31." The standard is one that O'Brien can certainly appreciate, since it was his idea. While the NCAA prohibits any and all football-related contact between coaches and players during the summer, O'Brien established a tone in the spring. It was understood that players were expected to make significant strides before preseason practice began. By all accounts, they embraced that challenge. "I think there's a good chemistry on this team of guys who respect each other, and they understand the work that it takes to be a good player," O'Brien said. "They also understand that maybe we have to do some extra things to be able to compete in this conference." That is the mentality that has developed at Penn State in the year since the NCAA handed down its sanctions. The us-against-the-world outlook that existed among a group of players and coaches who had nothing to do with the Sandusky scandal persisted into the off-season, and it still exists, albeit in a different form. A year ago, the Lions were riding a wave of defiance. Some of that outrage has since cooled, but the underdog mentality lingers. "We're going to will ourselves to get victories. We have a chip on our shoulder," Willis said. "A lot of people think that we shouldn't be where we are. A lot of people underestimate us. We're going to be the underdog in a lot of our games and, to be honest, we I wouldn't have it any other way." www.AmericanAleHouse.net 821 Cricklewood Drive, Toftrees State College Now in 2 Locations