Dear PSU community:
Let me paint you a picture.
Two years ago (my freshman year), Penn State was losing a game every other week at the start of the season. The first loss was against Pitt, which was soon followed by a loss to Michigan. We didn’t think anything was going to go well for us – but from there on, we won every game leading up to the historic Ohio State Whiteout game. By something short of a miracle, we won that game, too. This spawned a winning streak, leading us to win the Big Ten Championship… even if we did lose at the Rose Bowl.
Last year (my sophomore year), we had the same type of season – except we lost to Ohio State and Michigan State for back-to-back weeks. Even so, we went on to win at the Fiesta Bowl later that year, and we made sure that some members of our team left PSU with another win under their belts.
Cut to April of this year: we lost a lot of our team. Saquon Barkley went pro to the New York Giants, with the rest spread across the country. The fact of the matter is, the team that put us on the map for the last two years has gone on to start their new life.
So this year, and this may be an unpopular opinion, we’re just not that good of a team.
We nearly fell to Appalachian State; I don’t know how we survived that, but we did. Then, we lost to Ohio State… again. I wasn’t surprised by this; I had a feeling throughout the entire game that we would lose. That last play was absolutely horrible and it shouldn’t have been called; we’ve all acknowledged this by now.
But this didn’t hurt as badly as the loss that came after.
Just a few days ago, we lost to Michigan State after a bye week. The same kind of loss, almost the same ratio as last year – except by one point more. Both teams, back-to-back years. This can definitely make someone feel exceptionally crappy when they have to root for a team that hasn’t changed how they play in the fourth quarter.
But I need to remind my fellow students and any alumni who do ultimately read this: What happened to “We Are”?
When I came to PSU a few years ago for a campus tour, we weren’t even on the map for college football. But the amount of school spirit I saw was the reason why I wanted to come to Penn State in the first place. Now, when we lose to two schools (one very good and one good with a few bad losses), suddenly we’re on the chopping block.
These people are who I really hate to call PSU fans. Our team has overcome more than most teams in college football; we’ve been through so much together. But now, when we face a loss, a lot of us tend to fall apart and lose faith – and I think that’s just awful.
I’m not oblivious. I know that coaching can be a hard thing to do. I know that James Franklin can be a good recruiter, but not always an elite coach. I know that our team needs intense work. I know that we’re still a very young team (more than half of our players are freshmen.) I know there’s so much more that we have to do.
I’m not oblivious; I just have faith.
I have faith that, within the next year – maybe even this year – we’ll stop these little mishaps. I believe that we’ll reach that level soon. I believe that as long as they make the right choices for the team, that they’ll reach that level once again. We have some amazing players; we just need to season them into the college football landscape before we go up against the big dogs.
To the fans: why are you all calling for Franklin to get fired? Why are you saying “we suck” when after every other game we win, you applaud the men who got us there? Why is it that when we lose a game we’re so close to winning, you suddenly think we’re overrated? You’re the same people who go to the tailgates and to the stadium and greet the players. Now, you sit at home on your computer or twiddling on your phone on social media, commenting on how Franklin “needs to go” or how the O-line is “trash.”
I’m not going to lie; this last loss hurt. It hurt even more than the loss to MSU last year, but we can’t let it derail our fandom. Right now, in this state, our boys need our support more than ever. I know saying “just be there for our lions” is easier said than done, but other than that, what else can we do?
Negative energy creates negative abilities. If we keep feeding it to these men, then they’re only going to play worse. We need to encourage them and tell them that they’ve got what it takes. What goes on in that football facility, none of us know; we just need to have faith that the athletics team and the coaching staff are making the changes that need to be made.
From here, all we can do is wait for the next week and go to the next game. I know it may be hard to don blue and white after a hard loss, but this is our school… our family. No matter what we go through, we always need to remember that we are Penn State. We’re one giant family that’s tough to mess with, and some fans need to remember that win or lose, we should always be there for our team.
We’re young, we’re growing, and eventually – we’re going to be elite.
But for now, the best thing we can do is wait and hope that changes are coming. Don’t throw the players out the window; support them and hope that the next game will be better.
I still love my boys and always will. Do you?
Sincerely,
A Concerned PSU Student