Lions need to bounce back, even though 'nobody's truly OK' coming off Michigan loss

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- When you're on a team that loses a whole bunch, you just get used to it. You understand it. You know how to recover, recoup and bounce back to give it your all next time out.

Take, for instance, Penn State's opponent this week.

Rutgers loses a whole bunch. It used to be all the time, but to the credit of Greg Schiano, the Scarlet Knights have done a nice job becoming somewhat relevant. They're 6-4 this year and bowl eligible, something the program has achieved only 11 times before (seven during Schiano's two stints).

Nobody's talking to the Rutgers players this week about how they'll overcome a loss and get ready to play the next game. They just fell at Iowa last week, 22-0, and so they'll enter Saturday's game at Penn State just like it's any other week.

Ahhh, but when you're accustomed to winning, and when you have enormous goals, losing one game and having all those goals ripped away can be crushing. The entire narrative about your team turns to: How will it respond to the adversity of losing such a big game?

That's where we find ourselves this week for a wholly uninteresting game between Penn State and Rutgers. There's no way anybody can care all that much about this game or this opponent, after the Nittany Lions just laid yet another egg in a huge loss to Michigan last week.

As we hear all the time from players and coaches, the games against the likes of Michigan and Ohio State are "the reason you come to Penn State."

Nobody comes to Penn State for the games against Rutgers.

When this game rolls around every year, the most important thing to Penn State is simply to try and get up for it and not overlook the opponent. Motivation is the key.

This year will be different in one sense. We will find out an awful lot about this group of Lions and the character in the program. Because even though the players have talked over the past week about how there's still a lot to play for -- and yes, there really is -- you have to wonder just how much they'll truly buy into that after having their Big Ten and College Football Playoff dreams disappear.

"I feel like nobody's truly OK," defensive lineman Dvon Ellis said this week. "When you put so much into it, especially in the offseason, especially with so many expectations, high expectations, not only from the outside but also from within … it's hard to be OK after a loss like that." 

Then Ellies added, "To fall short like that is heartbreaking."

Props to the young man for opening up and being honest about his feelings. That's not something we hear from a lot of big, tough football players. They're so used to displaying nothing but their macho side that it can be hard to find ones who are willing to show their human side by laying it all on the line.

Like Theo Johnson did after last week's loss to Michigan.

I was standing three feet from Johnson, just offscreen to the right, when he broke down emotionally. Here's some more insight into how that whole thing played out.

As Johnson began crying and needed 15 seconds or so to try and compose himself, a Penn State communications staffer asked him if he wanted to be done with the interview. Now, let me tell you, a whole bunch of college football players would have taken that out provided by the PR guy. At least half, if not way more than that.

Johnson didn't. He sat there, took the time he needed and did his duty as a team leader and captain by answering questions. It was, to use the word Ellies mentioned earlier, heartbreaking, in large part because Johnson didn't lose that game to Michigan or let anyone down by his play. He actually did everything he could, it seemed, but unfortunately for him he plays on a highly disappointing offense.

But when you make it to week 10 and still have legitimate national championship hopes in mind, losing the game that takes that all away from you can be crushing.

That's where Penn State found itself after the Michigan game, and again throughout the past few days preparing for Saturday's contest against Rutgers. The players have had to compartmentalize as best they can, getting over not just a rare loss, but a season and in some cases career-defining setback.

Yeah, it was that bad of a loss.

"I've been playing football for a really long time, since I was about 4," right tackle Caedan Wallace said. "I've lost a lot of games, won a lot of games. I know that if I grieved over this Michigan thing, then it wouldn't bode well for us. It would spiral out.

"I'd say, naturally, you want there to be a grieving period," Wallace added. "But in terms of going 1-0 next week, we can't do that (grieve). We can't take a day off or a practice off or a period off because we're grieving our last loss. Because it's gonna turn into another loss."

Could that possibly be true? Could Rutgers actually beat Penn State this week, if the Lions aren't fully recovered mentally and physically?

Well, the Scarlet Knights' offense is terrible, so you wouldn't think they'd pose much of a challenge to Penn State's strong defense. But, Rutgers does have a very good defense itself, so don't be surprised if it gives Penn State's offense some fits, especially early in the game.

And as I mentioned in my score prediction, the Scarlet Knights know the Lions are wounded animals right now coming off the Michigan loss, so they'll be looking to cash in as best they can on that.

Drew Allar wasn't available to speak to the media this week, so it will be worth watching to see how he bounces back from his brutal 70-yard passing game against Michigan. Oh, and of course, having offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich fired the next day. That adds another fascinating and difficult element to this week's game, as Allar and the offense will have to try and bounce back while being led by interim co-OCs Ja'Juan Seider and Ty Howle.

"They’ve handled it well. Obviously it’s a tough situation," James Franklin said of the quarterbacks, including Allar. "I think also, they got a ton of respect for Danny (O'Brien), and Danny has been with those guys, a lot of them, through the recruiting process and afterwards. So, I think that helped. If it would have been somebody completely new coming into that room that hadn’t been with him, I think that could have been more challenging.”

Adding one more component to this game, it's senior day for the Lions. That's always an emotional day for a lot of players who will be playing at Beaver Stadium for the final time, and that will be the case this year for a whole slew of the team's best players.

So, to recap: Penn State is coming off a hugely emotional loss, the offensive coordinator got fired and senior day will be very emotional for a lot of the guys.

It's a good thing Rutgers is still Rutgers, meaning this should be a comfortable win. Because otherwise, given all those external factors, it stands to reason that Penn State could be all out of sorts for this game.