Penn State falls to Nebraska on an emotional day

Penn State players Derek Moye (6), Quinn Barham (67), Devon Still (71), and Drew Astorino (28) link arms as they lead the team onto the field before an NCAA college football game against Nebraska in State College, Pa., Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011. / AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Updated 5:10 PM EST

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Capping the worst week in school history, No. 12 Penn State couldn't overcome a 17-point deficit and was stopped short on a 4th-and-1 late in a 17-14 loss Saturday to No. 19 Nebraska.

The outcome was secondary in Happy Valley.

A tumultuous chapter that began with the arrest of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on shocking child sexual abuse charges ended Saturday with Penn State (8-2, 5-1 Big Ten) losing in its first game the post-Joe Paterno era. The winningest major college football coach in history was fired Wednesday.

Rex Burkhead ran for 121 yards and a touchdown for Nebraska (8-2, 4-2) before the Nittany Lions scored 14 points on two second-half touchdown runs by Stephfon Green.

But a key drive ended when Silas Redd was stopped on the fourth down with 1:49 left at the Penn State 38.

School president Rod Erickson met the Nittany Lions in the locker room afterward and praised, "how much courage, how much heart, and how much character" the players had, he said.

Most Penn State fans heeded calls for a "blueout," wearing the school's familiar dark blue in support of victims of child sexual abuse. Fans formed the outline of a blue ribbon in the student section.

"We are ... Penn State," roared the crowd through the afternoon, the signature State College cheer.

The Nebraska and Penn State players gathered at midfield before the game, kneeling together for a long moment in a quiet stadium.

Sometimes, the most powerful statements are the simplest.

Saturday's game was a combination of pep rally, cleansing and tribute for a Penn State community rocked by the child sex-abuse scandal involving former assistant Jerry Sandusky that cost Joe Paterno his job.

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Affection for Penn State and Paterno was proudly on display, both by fans and players. So was support for abuse victims.

"This has been one of the saddest weeks in the history of Penn State and my heart goes out to those who have been victimized. I share your anger and sorrow," new school president Rod Erickson said in a video played in the first quarter. "Although we can't go back to business as usual, our university must move forward. We are a community."

Instead of sprinting onto the field, the Penn State team marched out arm-in-arm through a corridor formed by the band and the Football Lettermen Club. Beaver Stadium was awash in blue — the color associated with child-abuse prevention — right down to the flags that accompanied the band. Outside the stadium, several students sold blue bracelets to raise money for RAINN, or the Rape Abuse Incest National Network.

And the normally raucous atmosphere right before the game was replaced by a moment of silence for the victims. The somber mood was finally broken by a fan who shouted afterward, "We love you, P-State!"

Penn State junior Dane Werley, left, and sophomore David Manley watch today's game between Nebraska and Penn State Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, in State College, Pa.

/ AP Photo/Matt Rourke

"It's therapy," said Dave Young, a lifelong Penn State fan. "I love Penn State football, always will love Penn State football. Tough week, cried in my office a couple times when I had moments to myself.

"But now it's time to release and watch the football game and enjoy it."

Indeed, once the game got underway, it was like any other Saturday at Beaver Stadium — except for the guy in charge of the home team, of course.

It was the first time in 46 years that Paterno was not leading the Nittany Lions, but his presence was still very much evident. When his image was shown in a video montage before the second half kicked off, the student section chanted, "Joe Paterno! Joe Paterno!"

The Nittany Lions' first play was a fullback run up the middle — old school, just like JoePa. The game was vintage, too, relying on the gritty defense and basic running attack that are as much Penn State trademarks as its plain blue-and-white uniforms. As it has much of the season, the Nittany Lions' offense struggled and Nebraska had a 17-0 lead in the third quarter.

On the Penn State sideline, another Paterno paced back and forth.

Jay Paterno, the quarterbacks coach, traded his usual seat in the press box for a spot on the field. Paterno also took his father's spot on the team bus, following the starting quarterback off when Penn State arrived at the stadium.

Penn State fans gather outside Beaver Stadium near a statue of Joe Paterno before the start of the NCAA football game between Penn State and Nebraska in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal on November 12, 2011 in State College, Pennsylvania.

/ Mario Tama/Getty Images

The normally low-key Jay Paterno, a quarterbacks coach, pumped his fist and shouted, "Let's go!" He high-fived passers-by on the way into the stadium, and several staffers gave him an encouraging embrace before he entered the locker room. Several players appeared to have tears in their eyes, and three wore shirts that read "Joe Knows Football."

But this Saturday was about more than football.

It was about picking up the pieces.

Sandusky, once considered Paterno's heir apparent, is accused of sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year span, with several of the alleged assaults occurring on Penn State property. Two university officials are accused of perjury, and Paterno and president Graham Spanier were fired for not doing enough to act on a 2002 report that Sandusky sodomized a young boy in the showers of the campus football complex.

"We are obviously in a very unprecedented situation," interim coach Tom Bradley said Thursday. "I just have to find a way to restore the confidence and to start a healing process with everybody."

The scandal would be damaging enough to a university that prides itself on its integrity. That it involved Paterno, major college football's winningest coach and the man who'd come to symbolize all that was good at Penn State, made it that much worse.

Thousands of angry students paraded through the streets after Paterno was fired Wednesday night, some throwing rocks and bottles and tipping over a TV news van. While the anger has waned, the fondness for Paterno has not.

Penn State sophomores Katharina Streubel, left, and Chelsey Coudriet watch the half-time show during an NCAA college football game between Nebraska and Penn State Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, in State College, Pa.

/ AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Several students were dressed as Paterno — rolled-up khakis, white socks and thick, dark glasses — and an entire family wore shirts that read "We (Heart) JoePa." Paul Diehm, a Penn State graduate who made the three-hour trip from Delaware, bought a blue T-shirt with the simple message, "Thanks Joe."

"Sixty-one years of service," he said, referring to Paterno's years at Penn State as both an assistant and head coach. "You've got to say thank you. He deserves it."

At Joe Paterno's house nearby, a small clutch of TV cameras and reporters stood outside. A pair of people walked to the door, rang the doorbell and left after no one answered. On the lawn were a pair of homemade signs — one read "We Love You Joe, Thank You" the other "Thanks Joe" — facing his house. Nearby a small American flag had been planted in the yard of the house.

Though police promised a heavy presence to prevent a recurrence of the violence that occurred Wednesday night, it wasn't needed. The parking lots were filled with fans grilling out, tossing footballs and soaking up the beauty of the warm, late fall morning.

"It's heartbreaking and sad and almost surreal. You can't get it out of your head for more than a minute. I'm sure just about everyone here feels the same way," Emmie Fay said as she glanced at the fellow tailgaters.

"But we're here because we love the school and believe in it."

[R_Night]

The players weren't 'kneeling for a long moment of silence,' they were PRAYING. Why is that so hard to write?

[notreich]

He may be all that but he also covered up child rape to protect the institution as if he were a Catholic bishop. And what does he get? A parade.

[Imthaid2]

I'm guessing Penn State lost because the players were too eager to get back into the locker room.

[saturn05]

I hate Nebraska, but I am glad they beat Penn in this case. I feel for the victims of this coach's abuse. He should spend time in jail, but I bet he won't. He will plead out and the time issue will be there, so who knows. What scums these guys are. What upstanding citizens they are.

[kenodenis]

I think Sandusky will do himself in before he faces the judge and jury. He doesn't have the guts to own up to what he did, he's a wimp.

[bulyboy]

How can we be so naive as to believe on the campus that big there is only one pedophile.The latest list I've seen shows there are over 40 children that have been raped. There is more to this than they are telling us.

[kenodenis]

What the fletch are you trying to say?

by DeclarationOfIndependence November 12, 2011 7:53 PM EST
You got it. Dang those Trustees and education heads think they are G Almighty and we are know nothings. The kids they educated for years trounced out to stomp anyone who wanted ol' Joe dumped. WHY? Because they were "encouraged" the little lemmings. Didn't woik. School saw that people were turned against the school because of the ignorant students and bad faculty and controllers. Change course. Buy candles. Send the lemmings out with candles and sad faces and a few quips to make them seem sensitive human beings. Nobody bought that either. Anybody that gives a care about their kids in that environment better rescue them and put them in a school that educates and doesn't play with balls. Students who like that will stay. Not enough to pay the professors so it will close down. It should. It isn't too big to fail, it's too immoral to survive. There will be much more of this for a longggg time. Kids who want good educations will leave soon.

[kenodenis]

actually --- you make a lot of sense. Sorry for questioning your post. :(

[kenodenis]

hipster-dufus November 12, 2011 7:25 PM EST
how noble - have you contributed to the support of the molested?
did you notice how the student body came together to support the molested?
the institution is focusing on damage control
the students are focused on the molested.
the students are victims - albeit to much lesser degree

[kenodenis]

The students are not victims, many of them are making jokes about being "sanduskied" and their rioting in the streets when Paterno got fired is beyond the pale. How did the student body come together to support the molested? A few students who took up the cause to give attention to the molested does not make a STUDENT BODY. You must be one of the alumni from this school to defend them so heartily at this moment in time. And how have I contributed to the support of the molested? Do you have a link to a website that I could contribute to? Obviously, you have all the answers, so please let me know where to send my check. Meanwhile, I'll do it in my own little circle of life - as I have always done.

[DeclarationOfIndependence]

You got it. Dang those Trustees and education heads think they are G Almighty and we are know nothings. The kids they educated for years trounced out to stomp anyone who wanted ol' Joe dumped. WHY? Because they were "encouraged" the little lemmings. Didn't woik. School saw that people were turned against the school because of the ignorant students and bad faculty and controllers. Change course. Buy candles. Send the lemmings out with candles and sad faces and a few quips to make them seem sensitive human beings. Nobody bought that either. Anybody that gives a care about their kids in that environment better rescue them and put them in a school that educates and doesn't play with balls. Students who like that will stay. Not enough to pay the professors so it will close down. It should. It isn't too big to fail, it's too immoral to survive. There will be much more of this for a longggg time. Kids who want good educations will leave soon.

[moveoverr]

I'm so sick of hearing about this stupid game! If everyone involved was half as concerned about the victims (and I don't mean Paterno or the players) as they pretend to be ... they would have cancelled the game!

[kenodenis]

Agree - they should have cancelled the game today. But they didn't, the almighty sport of college football wins out over innocent, wide eyed little boys who only wanted to be part of the sports scene when they grow up. Is there nothing wholesome anymore? No wonder I have become a hermit. Lord help us.

[jschmidt27]

Why should a sicko like Sandusky bring down the entire school which is primarily there for the students, not the administration that didn't take action. Only evil wins if you cancelled the game.

[kenodenis]

I speak for others on this forum. To heck with the football game and tears over daddy Paterno. How many tears do you think the victims have shed, all alone in their rooms as they try to muster up the strength to tell their parents what happened to them on a day that was supposed to be the highpoint of their life - spending time with a revered coach Jerry Sandusky? I have no pity for any football fans of Penn State today, I have no pity for Paterno or his sons and family, and the list goes on. Many adults knew of Sandusky's weirdness and could have done something about it a LONG time ago. So cry on loyal Penn State fans - it's falling on deaf ears.

[hipster-dufus]

how noble - have you contributed to the support of the molested?
did you notice how the student body came together to support the molested?
the institution is focusing on damage control
the students are focused on the molested.
the students are victims - albeit to much lesser degree

[dagrandma]

Is anyone asking themselves if perhaps this was the reason Paterno didn't retire? Maybe he knew that when he did all of this would come out.

[jschmidt27]

His retiring would never had opened this up.

[DeclarationOfIndependence]

So you think he stayed because he knew? Do you mean the Donor Pedophiles knew ol Joe knew and would have disappeared him or his family if he left? Such a little guy, couldn't let go of the ladder he climbed. both he and wifey had to know all about Sandusky, about the use of little boys, about the mega bucks those pedophile donors were giving to the school to get access to the corral ol' ugly Sandusky had built across the country every where he went. Ol' Joe had to know about the Pennsylvania DA Ray Gricar and how he "vanished" and that Sandusky was on Ray's radar but for some reason ha ha ha Ray stopped going after ol' Sandusky. Guess that wasn't enough. Those pedophiles didn't know how much Ray knew so had to disappear him. Ray tried hard to erase his hard drive and asked coworkers for help, and searched the net to figure it out himself. He probably had a list of those Penn St. Donors and was going after all of them... and became terrorized when he was told to drop it... he had a young daughter... Note that other DA's never picked up the slack and went after Sandusky. WHY. Ray's computer and hard drive had been separated and tossed, and later found by a fisherman and still later by a woman hiking near the lake behind the antique store Ray had planned to visit the day he was grabbed, and both people turned the parts in to officials since stamped government property. Officials said they would pull the info from the hard drive, but oops, never followed up. WHERE IS RAY'S HARD DRIVE. Why didn't DA's confiscate all computers from Sandusky and family and from all coaches, including ol' JoeP and family, and confiscate all details about DONORS from the school accounting. There is much more to this and obviously there are powerful jackasses trying to cover the whole thing. Hey, was there a lot of butt patting on the field today, or were they happy just locking arms.