Man, I have not been so wrong about something like this in a long-ass time.
Penn State’s football team not only beat a good Wisconsin team that is going to play for the Big Ten conference championship, it finished 8-4. Yup, you read that right: 8 wins with 4 losses.
This is the same Penn State team that no one thought would win more than four games, let alone eight. After all, we all assumed the Nittany Lions’ football program would be hurting after the NCAA hammered it with what many thought was as bad as the “death penalty” itself: a four-year ban from postseason play, a cut in the number of football scholarships it can award, and a $60 million fine.
And yet this team found a way to win eight games and stay competitive in all four of its losses (it’s worse loss was by 12 to Ohio State). That could be attributed to one thing: coaching.
To say head coach Bill O’Brien has done a helluva job would be the understatement of the year. All he did was walk into what many thought to be a no-win situation and had his team be competitive all season. And boy, did his players respond.
O’Brien never made any excuses nor made people feel sorry for him. All he did was keep his head down, worked hard, and win games. Props to him – and his players – for making this year a success for Penn State football.
By the way, if O’Brien does not win the Coach of the Year award, not only would college football need to drop the award, it should get new voters for the award.
Categories: college football
A lot of people were very wrong about this Penn State team, and O’Brien should absolutely be the coach of the year.
Well said. As a life-long Penn State fan, BOB made it feel good to be a fan again.