Silence, at its climax, could be the Penn State football team's finest ally in the coming weeks. By silence, I speak of the fact that for the first time in its 2005 campaign, this team is presented with the opportunity to move a step closer to quieting critics and doubters alike.
The critics, of course, are the ones who say the beginning of conference play will signify the destruction of an assembly of players who, for the past two seasons, have rested uncomfortably at the bottom of a pile that it once sat on as its personal lounge chair.
The doubters -- and even some fans fall into this category -- are the ones who ask what significant evidence have we been shown to sway us that this, indeed, will be the year that a hibernating giant returns from its sabbatical.
There's a reason why many powerhouse football programs across the country schedule cream puffs during non-conference play. It's called leverage. It's the hope that by the conclu-
sion of the pre-season, the momentum the team has accumulated will carry over into the real season. For the Lions, their real season starts tomorrow.
Because, truth be told, the last three weekends of football have told us very little about the future of this year's squad.
Sure, we've learned that the Lions defense, on any given Saturday, is as good as any team in the country. But we knew that last year, too.
We've learned that given time in the pocket, quarterback Michael Robinson is capable of placing the ball in the right spot.
But what happens now, in the Big Ten, when the opposition is the same size or even bigger than you are, when the ability to outrun an opponent now turns into a neck-and-neck sprint to the goaline.
"I wanna know, really, what type of football team we have right now," quarterback Michael Robinson said. "For you to win on the road, you have to have a couple players who wanna silence the crowd."
Tomorrow, in Evanston Ill., the Nittany Lions will play a Northwestern team that has beaten them the past two seasons. Both were very winnable games for the Lions, losing by 10 and 7 points in consecutive years. But Penn State teams of the past would have found a way to win close games like that. At one point last season, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno actually said he had to teach his team how to win.
Because what once was a program opposing teams circled before the season as a loss, has now -- since the turn of the century -- transformed into a program that no longer has the liberty of winning games on intimidation and reputation alone.
Make no mistake about it, every victory from here on out will be earned.
"I mean, I think every Big Ten game carries some personal significance, we haven't won many. This is the biggest game on our schedule up to this point right now," Robinson said. "I think a win Saturday would just let us know that we can compete in the Big Ten."
In the past two seasons, the Lions have a combined 3-13 record in the conference. Two of those three wins came against Big Ten pushover Indiana. This year's Wildcats team will present some opportunities for the Lions to put points on the board. Last week they surrendered over 700 yards of offense to Pac 10 representative Arizona State.
Other than that, it's hard to know what the Wildcats will have in store for a Lions team it has called loser the past two seasons.
"They're the next team that's standing in the way of an undefeated season," defensive end Matthew Rice said. "That's all I need to know."
