Blue White Illustrated

2 0 1 5 P E N N S T A T E F O O T B A L L only way that you can create a rival is by beating teams on the field. That's what we know we have to do if we want to try to have rivalries in the Big Ten." When it admitted Maryland and Rutgers into its ranks in 2012, the Big Ten fulfilled Joe Paterno's oft-stated wish that the league give Penn State some company on its eastern flank. The Nittany Lions, how- ever, will reap only a tangential benefit from the Big Ten's growth spurt. The big beneficiaries are the two new conference schools, and their development will be greatly enhanced if they are able to turn their annual clashes with Penn State into battles for regional supremacy. For eight decades, the Nittany Lions played the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights on a regular basis, with the former series dating to 1917 and the latter to 1918. Heading into the 2014 season, those two teams had combined to go 3-57-1 against Penn State. But this was a new era, the old one having ended when the Lions en- tered the Big Ten in 1993 and began sev- ering ties with their Eastern opponents. As illustrated by the midfield standoff last No- vember, Maryland was not feeling particularly burdened by its dreary history with Penn State. Nor was Rutgers reluctant to start something with its once-and-future rival. In the week leading up to the Knights' game against PSU last Sep- tember, coach Kyle Flood re- fused to use the words Penn State, referring to the Nittany Lions instead as "that team from Pennsylvania." The Lions answered Flood's snub with a 13-10 comeback vic- tory at High Point Solutions Stadium that extended their winning streak over the Knights to eight games. But after failing to close the deal last year, Rutgers will have a chance to make an even bolder statement next month. On Sept. 19, it will meet Penn State in a prime time BTN game. It will be the first game of the Big Ten season, as well as Rutgers' first visit to Beaver Stadium since a 55-27 loss in 1994. The Knights were saying all the right things at Big Ten media days, all the one- game-at-a-time things, but it seems safe to assume that they've circled the date. Said Flood, "I know it will be a great en- vironment out there. They've got a very exciting fan base." Rivalries arise from three factors, Flood continued: geographic proximity, over- lapping recruiting territory and on-field competitive balance. Penn State, he said, checks all the boxes. "Certainly the ge- ography is there," Flood said. And so is the recruiting. "Do you have players in both programs who were recruited by both schools? We do, that's certainly the case. And then [you need] competitive football games, which we had last year. "So is it the start of something like that? It might be. But I think those things have to happen organically. I don't think you can create them." Before the Big Ten rekindled two of them, the problem with Penn State's Eastern ri- valries was that they were asymmetrical at heart. To Penn State fans, they were just steps on the path to New Year's Day bowl games and national championships. Fans may have missed their trips to, say, Boston, but how badly did they miss Boston College, a team that Penn State defeated 19 of the 23 times they met prior to last year's matchup in the Pinstripe Bowl? How badly READY TO RUMBLE Players spar prior to Penn State's game against Maryland last season. The fight led to a standoff at midfield, as three Terrapin play- ers refused to shake hands with their Penn State counterparts. Photo by Steve Manuel

• Cover