UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Just before kickoff between Penn State and Nebraska at noon Saturday, the sidelines were empty. The players, coaches and athletic officials were absent. They were already on the field, huddling together in a circle at the 50-yard line to kneel down in complete silence amid more than 107,000 people in Beaver Stadium.

The 12th-ranked Nittany Lions and No. 19 Nebraska were praying.

‘It was loud and cheering when the players were coming together but then it got really quiet and I almost felt everyone in the stadium could hear it, and for 100,000 people to stay hush, I say that’s the power of god. It was very touching,’ Nebraska running backs coach Ron Brown told reporters after the game.

Brown, who led the prayer, said the gathering at midfield allowed the nation to understand the reality of the situation at Penn State and would help heal the community.

‘I think one of the most touching moments was right before the prayer, Tom Bradley said to me, ‘Where’s Bo? Where’s Bo?’ and Bo was coming,’ Brown said. ‘He was a little behind. He says, ‘I want Bo to kneel next to me.’

Bo Pelini is the head coach of Nebraska (8-2), while Bradley is the interim head coach of the Nittany Lions (8-2).

‘And I really thought it represented he spirit that was taking place inside that huddle,’ Brown added. ‘We knew we were going to go to battle against each other. It was a big game for both teams, but there was something bigger.’

At the end of the game, police officers stood in the endzones with their eyes watchful on the crowd — watching for someone to act after a Penn State rally came up short against Nebraska in a week when scandal had riddled State College. But no such action occurred — even a day after a Beaver Stadium received a bomb threat while the Penn State community held a moving candelight vigil Friday night on Old Main Lawn.

As the defeated Penn State players made their way to the lockeroom after the clock hit zero on their spirited comeback try, most of the crowd remained in Beaver Stadium and applauded the Nittany Lions, playing without legendary former head coach Joe Paterno.

Outside the stadium, the scene was just as respectful as several Nebraska fans said they felt welcomed by the Penn State community, despite the sexual abuse charges and national media attention facing the university. Nebraska fans claimed that the emotion pouring from State College didn’t cause Penn State fans to disrespect or harass them, although the Cornhuskers won the game 17-14.

Mike Vendetti, of Maryland, said after the game that the prayer was an important gesture from Nebraska.

‘It was respectful of the team, it was respectful of the coach and it was respectful of the whole situation,’ he said. ‘I thought it was a great first step for a visiting team to come in and make a gesture like that. I think that’s exactly the spirit of Penn State and I’m glad Nebraska did it.’

Although Paterno has given back to the Penn State community throughout his time at the helm of the Nittany Lions, the legendary head coach lost more than a job when he was fired Wednesday night, Vendetti said.

‘He doesn’t lose his ability to provide like I would if I got fired, he loses a reputation that he worked very hard to build in this community,’ Vendetti said. ‘You got an 84-year-old man who intentionally built a good reputation and will never be able to recover it. It’s gone for good and that’s tough.’

Standing with Vendetti was Virginia resident Jim Rodriguez, who was sporting a Nebraska visor and black Cornhuskers hoody.

Rodriguez said he was treated fairly by Penn State fans after arriving in State College at about 8 a.m. Saturday. Rodriguez said he and his family were expecting to leave later on Saturday after some of the traffic died down.

‘We had planned this trip in August and even though the events unfolded, we got tickets, we’re still going to go,’ Rodriguez said.

And although Rodriguez thinks it’s unfortunate that the scandal brought down Paterno before he could retire, he knows where the focus truly lies.

‘Joe was an icon, a legend, and always will be that,’ Rodriguez said. ‘I think he said it best when he said I should have done more. It’s unfortunate but you move forward, you got to move on and pray for those families and pray for the children affected here at Penn State.’

It was announced during the game that Nebraska and Penn State fans had helped donate $22,582 at the stadium Saturday to prevent child abuse.

Mary Rodriguez, Jim Rodriguez’s mother and a Florida resident, said she felt welcomed in State College even while wearing her Nebraska red.

‘I can’t tell you how many people came up and gave me a big hug,’ Mary Rodriguez said. ‘Before the game even started on our way in, they were all like, ‘Hey, welcome, we’re so happy to have you and how was your trip over.”

Steve Nicholas, an Albany resident, fell in love with the Cornhuskers while watching a TV interview with former head coach Tom Osborne when he was 7 years old. Osborne, the athletic director at Nebraska, coached the Cornhuskers for 25 years.

And although Nicholas said the game between Nebraska and Penn State was ugly, he was treated kindly by those cheering for the Nittany Lions.

‘Everybody was very friendly, courteous,’ Nicholas said. ‘People actually went out of their way to make sure we knew where we were going and if we needed anything and they welcomed us. We had a great time.’

Nicholas arrived in State College on Friday with a group of about 10 other people, who were planning to go home Sunday.

Both Craig Bonza, of Oklahoma, and Brett Petersen, of Washington, D.C., said the Penn State fans were accommodating all weekend, even buying the two Nebraska fans drinks in downtown bars Friday.

‘They want to make sure it’s not a negative reflection on them,’ Bonza said. ‘They more than went out of their way — I don’t know if they’re like that normally — but they’re extremely nice, polite and courteous people.’

But Eric Milton, a State College resident and Penn State fan, said the courteousness of the Nittany Lion community isn’t anything new.

‘It’s not this week, it’s every week,’ Milton said. ‘There’s nothing different about this week than any other week. Everybody gets treated properly at Penn State; it’s how Penn State rolls. That’s the god’s honest truth. It’s not just this weekend, it’s always like that. I always go out of my way to make sure the tailgating people next to me have a good time and that’s just the Penn State way.’

To Milton, the decision to fire Paterno was warranted.

‘I’m glad he’s gone,’ Milton said. ‘I’m glad all those guys are gone. I have a 7-year-old boy at home and it makes me think. Joe didn’t stop it, he allowed that guy to continue to operate. That monster kept going for seven more years.’

Rob Raubenstine, who resides in Elizabethville, Pa., said he didn’t hear any negative comments from Nebraska fans about Paterno or the sexual abuse charges hanging over Penn State.

Raubenstine has been a fan of the Nittany Lions for about 30 years, as he has been coming to the games since he was 16 years old. He now has season tickets, family members that attend the university and a relative who works at Penn State.

But the longtime fan knows the decision to fire Paterno was the right one, although the media has skewed the focus of the scandal away from the victims and onto the winningest head coach in major college football history removed in the midst of his 46th season.

‘First thing you see is Joe Paterno, you don’t see about the university, the scandal,’ Raubenstine said. ‘It’s like Joe’s the rapist and not Sandusky and that’s kind of wrong. I understand they had to do what they had to do because you wouldn’t have looked good keeping him and not anybody else. It’s sad that he couldn’t have said goodbye today at the last home game.’

jdharr04@syr.edu 

Published on November 12, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jon: jdharr04@syr.edu