The student section at Penn State has been called the best in the nation for three straight years. Each week for three hours students feel like they belong to something much bigger than simply a fan section: They belong to the greatest cheering section and fight to maintain that honor.
However, this season fans of Penn State football were treated to some highly boring and meaningless games because of the lack of strength in Penn State schedule.
It has become common for some college football teams to search out lower quality teams out of their conference so they can crush them and raise self-esteem for the rest of the season. Not only do these games make for boring and uneventful matchups, they do not make the winning team as a whole any better.
As I watched our offense sputter against two less-than-impressive defenses in Akron and Syracuse, I began to wonder if by playing low quality teams, it allows the team to get lazy and not play to their potential. With wins against better ranked opponents, it allows the team to get better and to get more credibility in the BCS.
The greatest fans in college football are owed at least a few close games to keep them wanting to come back the next week and cheer even louder.
Taylor Guthrie
freshman-public relations
