Open 'Til 1 a.m. Or Later

A good number of fans seemed to be pissed off about Penn State's overall performance in 2006. There was talk about how the team couldn't live up to its potential and how they couldn't win the big games. I agree, you are all completely correct, but every single fan of Penn State football should have expected that from last year's squad. There was absolutely no reason to view Penn State as a Big Ten title contender last year, never-mind a BCS team. That's right, I'm going to say it, but no one will like it: Penn State in fact overachieved last season.

"What?!" you exclaim.

After getting pasted by Notre Dame, and completely falling apart against Ohio State, the Nittany Lions of old would have packed it in and gone 5-7 or 4-8. Not this team. Instead, they used every loss in 2006 as a stepping stone to better play each week. Granted, some of the wins were uglier than they should have been (think Illinois killing PSU in total yardage), but Penn State somehow found a way to beat the teams they should, something that was painfully missing during 2000-2004.

I've gone on record before saying Penn State is actually in a better position now than it was during the "old days" in the 70's, 80's and 90's. Especially evident in the 80's, Penn State would have a huge season (think two national championships), but then take two or three years to rebuild, usually suffering an embarrassing six or seven-win season in the process.

Look at Penn State now. The program has elevated to the level where there is no more "rebuilding years," just "reloading years." There is more depth on this team than most other years combined. Recruiting has been above average or good for three straight years, and although no one should expect 11-12 wins every year for the next decade (think 70's) anything less than nine or ten wins should be considered a huge disappointment.

In a way, 2006 could have been the best year for this program in a long, long time. It showed that Penn State is at a point again where eight or nine wins pisses fans off and gets the team thinking "that's not good enough." For someone who struggled through the worst five-year stretch in Nittany Lion football history, there should be nothing but optimism going into 2007, even if some on the defense act like morons off the field.