Getting out of Dodge might be just what the doctor ordered
Going on the road is always perceived as making an athletic contest tougher. In the NFL, home teams get a standard 3-point bump.
So, conventional wisdom is Penn State’s trip to Virginia tomorrow makes a tough opponent tougher. The 10-point spread on the game may include a home-field addition. Though, based on last week, that spread seems about right.
However, given all the emotions that still swirl around Penn State and State College, getting out of town might be a good thing for the Nittany Lions.
It’s impossible to escape the still raw situation that exists in Happy Valley. That can’t help but add to the pressure on these 18- to 22-year men, who are under a microscope unlike any other in the history of college athletics.
While Bill O’Brien talked this week about the volume of the crowd in Charlottesville, based on his experience as an assistant in the ACC, that may be less of an issue that what the Penn State players have been dealing with the past ten months.
That would be the noise inside their own heads.
Loud as this static may be, the decibel level may be lower by the time it reaches central Virginia.
