Penn State Sports Magazine
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said afterward. "It was great singing the Alma Mater at the end of the game with the fans. This first win was just great. It just felt really good." Navy was badly outmatched, so it VICTORY FORMATION O'Brien celebrates Penn State's win over Navy – his first as a head coach – with play- ers (clockwise from top left) Bryan Davie, J.R. Refice and Brian Irvin. "The one thing that winning does," the first- year coach said, "is it cures a lot of things." Jonh Beale ball hit the right upright squarely and fell to the turf as time expired, sealing the Nittany Lions' 10-7 win. For Penn State's players, coaches, alumni and the 98,792 fans who were on hand for the Navy game, Robin- son's ricochet touchdown reception was a reminder of how a silly game can make you feel good. It was a re- minder of what it feels like when something good happens for no good reason at all, and it was desperately needed by everyone involved. "With everything we went through in nine months, this one game means a lot, not just for the team, but for the whole Penn State community," senior cornerback Stephon Morris would probably be unwise to draw any conclusions about Penn State's readiness for the Big Ten season. In- juries at key positions still abound. Big holes created by the off-season defections have not yet been filled. The kicking game is still inadequate. And, with the conference season about to begin, the opposition is only going to get tougher. But after winning its first game un- der Bill O'Brien, this group of Penn State student-athletes – a group that has been through more adversity in the past year than most of us could ever imagine – has reason to look ahead with optimism. "The one thing that winning does is it cures a lot of things," O'Brien said afterward. "Winning also breeds confi- dence. The guys have confidence from lifting all those weights in the sum- mer, from practicing the way we prac- tice. There's a reward for that, and we know how to win and we can win. "Like I've said from day one, there's nothing that any of us can do about the NCAA. All we can do is play under the rules they say to play under. So that's what we're doing. These kids have really stuck together. This group of players in the locker room right now – they are really high-character kids who have come together." In the media room following the game, players echoed O'Brien's locker room message. That was no surprise. A deep bond has developed between the Nittany Lions and their new head coach. They have stood together to endure the repeated shocks of the past nine months, and in that time, both on the field and off, players have come to respect O'Brien's opinion and the way he carries himself. Senior center Matt Stankiewitch said players' confidence was shaken after the Lions lost two nonconfer- ence games to open the season. Need- ing to find themselves and battle through adversity, they looked to their coach. "He's the heart of this team," Stankiewitch said. "We all follow him, and he's going to lead us. We follow his lead and we go from there be- cause we believe in him." All week, O'Brien stayed positive. He resisted the temptation to wallow in self-pity, to single out certain players or dwell on fluke plays like the one that Ohio's Landon Smith made when he caught a deflected pass for a game-changing touchdown in the opener. When he sensed players were feeling down, he pumped them back up. Over and over, O'Brien told his team to play relaxed, have fun and just get after Navy all afternoon. Put the past behind you. Play the next play. Simply, keep going. "He just has so much energy," sen- ior quarterback Matt McGloin said. "He's constantly motivating us, con- stantly getting us going, and it rubs off on us. We respond so well to it, which is why we practice so well and is why we played so well. He just has a way of communicating with us and getting into our minds about playing the game. "I don't know how he does it. I get frustrated all the time, but he's con- stantly being a very optimistic per- son. He's always positive. It's hard to do, but for some reason, we respond to it." It remains to be seen whether good things will continue to happen to this Penn State football team for no good reason. O'Brien seems to think they will, and his players believe him wholeheartedly. After so many months of frustration and heartache, the Nittany Lions may have secured an even bigger victory in their game against Navy than the scoreboard reflected. "We knew we had to come out here and get a win," senior defensive tack- le Jordan Hill said. "[O'Brien] said the same thing: 'Hey, once you get one, they're going to start rolling in.' "He's very supportive of us and wouldn't let up on us. Just because we lost, he wasn't going to give up on us. We practiced hard, and it's start- ing to pay off."