Blue White Illustrated

tany Lions weren't being hailed as con- tenders in the preseason magazines, there was at least an unspoken hope that maybe they would catch a few lucky breaks and that the new kid at quarterback would come along more quickly than expected or that some young unknown would fill the void at tailback or outside linebacker, and that the Lions would be right there in the mix come late November. Some of that annual preseason opti- mism faded during the final decade of Joe Paterno's tenure. The Nittany Lions performed so poorly against top-10 competition in those years – 3-12 from 2000-11 – that a more fatalistic outlook began to take root. National champi- onships? Those were for Southeastern Conference teams. Penn State's ultimate destination was more likely to be the Alamo Bowl or the Citrus or Outback, maybe the Rose if everything broke right. The decline in optimism was never more evident than when Alabama showed up in Beaver Stadium three years ago and brought enough of its fans along that the scheduled White Out turned into a Pink Out. If you were on hand, the sight of Penn State's home field awash in crimson was nearly as sobering as the result on the field – a 27- 11 Alabama romp. The Tide went on to win the national championship that year; the Nittany Lions lost to Houston in the TicketCity Bowl. But every bowl, no matter how hum- ble, no matter what fly-by-night web- site or insurance company owns its naming rights, has a celebratory dimen- sion, which is why the resumption of Penn State's postseason eligibility after two years of NCAA prohibition feels like such a big deal. You can make a case that the removal of all scholarship restrictions – Penn State will be able to recruit additional players in its upcoming class even if it isn't able to overcome the logistical hurdles it must clear to get back to 85 by next season – will have a bigger im- pact on the long-term health of the program. You can argue that if the school had been given a choice by the NCAA – scholarships or bowls – it would have been better off taking the former. But in the end, it wasn't forced to choose, and the result has been a jolt of energy that this program hasn't ex- perienced since perhaps 2005, when it roared back from two consecutive los- ing seasons to win the Big Ten champi- onship and finish third in the final polls. James Franklin has made fan engage- ment a point of emphasis since taking the Penn State job in January. He's set ambitious attendance goals via his #107kstrong push on Twitter, hoping to create a feedback loop in which the game-day atmosphere at Beaver Stadi- um helps turbocharge the team's re- cruiting efforts, leading to victories, bringing out even more people and boosting recruiting even further. The restoration of the team's postseason el- igibility will do much to enhance those efforts. It gets people excited because now the season isn't hurtling toward a predestined conclusion. It's no longer about making the best of a bad situa- tion and biding time until the real fun begins. Penn State students came pouring out into the streets to celebrate the discontinuation of the NCAA sanc- tions. It was not their finest moment, and there was something unseemly about treating the dawn of the post- sanction era as if it were V-J Day. But the jubilation showed just how much bowl games – and the possibilities they represent – matter to supporters of the program. A year earlier, the NCAA had made an even more consequential decision, sub- stantially rolling back its scholarship penalties against the Nittany Lions. Its decision caught almost everyone outside of NCAA headquarters off-guard, and it did provoke some joy on Penn State message boards and talk radio shows, but it didn't cause pandemonium. And it's likely that the response would have been just as muted this year had the NCAA given back additional scholar- ships while leaving the bowl ban intact or simply lopping a year off the back end. The trick now will be to keep that eu- phoria at a manageable level. Franklin was quick to sound a cautionary note following the announcement, warning that being bowl-eligible is not the same as being bowl-worthy. "It's amazing how many people texted me and emailed me last night and said how awesome [it is] that you're bowl-eligible," he said on Sept. 9, the day after the decision was revealed. "We're not bowl-eligible. We have an opportunity to go to a bowl game. We need to make sure that we take care of our business." Their business that week was Rutgers, the first Big Ten meeting between the two former Eastern Independent rivals. The following week, it was Massachu- setts and after that Northwestern. The bulk of the conference season lies ahead, HEART OF TEXAS Penn State players celebrate their victory over Texas A&M in the 2007 Alamo Bowl. Photo by An- nemarie Mountz

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