While skimming the sports news this morning I came across this Sports Illustrated blog article on the caliber of Penn State recruiting in the face of the Sandusky scandal (in the middle of the linked page).  It details why recruits don’t seem to be bothered by it at all. This sheds some light on why some of us fans didn’t think PSU wouldn’t miss a beat with their football program.

“Christian and I have taken the role of being the leaders of this class,” said Breneman. “It takes a different kind of player to be part of this and we want to be difference makers.

“If you look on Twitter under the hashtag “Restore the Roar” – that’s us and that’s what we want to do. We’re not done yet, our goal is to have a top five class.”

“There’s a new energy with the program,” said Hackenberg, who was born in Tamaqua, Pa. and grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania before moving to Virginia. “Coach O’Brien has brought that and he’s the biggest reason I’m going to Penn State.”

Neither Hackenberg nor Breneman are concerned what others think or say about the program. They have formed their own ideas. “Outsiders don’t understand what it means to be a Penn Stater,” Breneman said. “I grew up as a Penn State fan and had to separate that when making my decision. I’ve gotten some hate mail and heard all the nasty comments and jokes. But those people just don’t get it. One guy will not tear the university down.”

This is fascinating to me in that we have a whole subset of players, parents and HS coaches who have blatantly and purposely turned a blind eye to what has transpired at Penn State over the last year.  Of course it helps to be able to put all the blame on Jerry Sandusky and thus overlook the role at least four other PSU administrators had in this, including the previous head coach.  Apparently PSU recruits can only have one thought in their minds at any given time.  Facts, who needs stinking facts?

It’s pretty sad actually.

Last Saturday the Harrisburg Patriot-News ran a similar article regarding how well PSU has done so far.  PSU football truly is an “Us vs Them” issue as is the viewpoint the rest of the university has taken forever.

“I think ignoring the outside, the negative press, and just focusing on what we can control. I think it’s focusing on the positive steps that the program and our class are making,” Cedar Cliff five-star tight end Adam Breneman said. “In a way, it kind of encouraged me to go to Penn State, and our class is kind of taking that us-against-the-world mentality. We know the whole story is not all about football. We’re well aware of what’s happening. We’re doing everything we can to push forward.”

Uhhh, perhaps you aren’t as aware as you think you are.

On one hand I am scratching my head about the decision making these recruits are doing yet on the other hand I can also see why it’s being done.  Penn Sate football is a powerful brand and is at the top of the heap for Northeastern football players, where most of their recruits come from.

I’ve never been the type of PITT fan who automatically hates our rivals.  I’ve a healthy respect for the West Virginia footballs team and I’ve always felt Penn State ran a good program in addition to being a fine university all around.  So I don’t exactly relish what has transpired with the Sandusky scandal.

That said, one of the things I have actively disliked about PSU is their fans.  Obnoxious, overbearing and fantastical just begins to describe how I view them.  The mantra of “We are…. Penn State!” has always sort of turned my stomach especially when viewed through the lens of the PSU fans attitudes.  That obsessive take on PSU football is what led to a student riot to protest the firing of a football coach even after the nation learned that decades of child abuse happened on the Penn State campus.  How ironic is that to the outside world?

So I can’t say I feel much sorrow for those bent fans these days, not like how I feel about the PSU alumni and the faculty who are being caught up in this negative whirlpool through no fault of their own.  But here is what really gets me… the current crop of recruits seem to want to continue that cult of membership.  “We   are….Penn State! indeed and as a matter of fact you guys aren’t and never will be.

In light of this the new head coach, Bill O’Brien, has had to institute a new secret handshake and revised the super secret password program to be able to get into team meetings since Paterno’s old ones are going to be outed in the Freeh Report.  This way of doing business has taken hold with the recruits…

“We’re building our own relationships, and nothing is going to get in the way of our goals,” Hackenberg said. “I really don’t have any comment on that whole situation. That’s the same for a lot of us. That wasn’t us in any shape or form. That was the last staff. And, to be honest, we’re sort of using it as motivation.”

… “and nothing is going to get in the way of our goals“. Hmmm, where have we heard that before?

But Penn State is hauling them in right now and that is impressive as hell considering.  As of this morning they have seven four star recruits and seven three star guys and is averaging 3.5 stars at this point according to Rivals.com.  That is truly impressive and on pace to be a higher star average class then anything PITT has done since the recruiting sites started the star system.

We just can’t seem to catch a break can we?  The worst scandal in sports history and it bolsters PSU’s recruiting…

College football fans across the country are asking, ‘Yeah, but what happens to the PSU football program when the other shoe drops with the subsequent investigations and trials?‘, and the answer is most probably nothing.  The PSU administration will have its world rocked, there may be more arrests coming out of the second Grand Jury convention and Centre County may find itself in a maelstrom of bad press due to The Second Mile issues but Penn Sate football will still be a-chugging down the track with a silly grin on its face.

Should PSU get the Death Penalty, which IMO they won’t, their players are allowed to transfer without the usually required one year sit out period, so that covers them.  Any NCAA sanctions less than that, a loss of a bowl, loss of scholarships, etc.. might upset the school and its fans for a year or two but in the long run Penn Sate football is still going to be Penn State football – a world where, as Pogo says, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”