Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1410640
5 2 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 1 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M E D I T O R I A L MATT HERB matt@bluewhiteonline.com A t this time a year ago, back when it looked like the Big Ten wouldn't be playing football in the fall, a num- ber of proposals were floated that were aimed at staging a season of some kind at what Penn State athletics director Sandy Barbour called a "nontraditional" time of year. For a while, it seemed like there was real energy behind the push to play a season beginning in January or Febru- ary. Purdue football coach Jeff Brohm went so far as to devise a detailed plan for what such a season would look like, complete with suggestions for how teams could modify their practices to minimize the sport's physical wear and tear and how they could winterize their schedules to account for potentially in- hospitable weather. Brohm's plan ended up being dis- carded and forgotten, as were other proposals that had been floated by coaches, administrators and fans. Whether motivated by the impracti- cality of playing in the spring or by the desire to synchronize its season with those of its fellow Power Five confer- ences, the Big Ten started up in Octo- ber. In so doing, the league avoided the daunting prospect of having to play two seasons in the same calendar year. Two football seasons, it should be specified. All the other fall sports? Women's volleyball, men's and women's soccer, field hockey, cross country — they are playing two seasons this year following their nontraditional spring campaigns. The shorter-than-usual turnaround created some challenges, but so far, Penn State's fall teams have had their share of success. The women's soccer team kicked everything off when it played the first sporting event of Penn State's 2021-22 academic year, defeating Massachusetts 3-1 on Aug. 19 at Jeffrey Field. Picked to finish first in the Big Ten's preseason coaches poll, the Nittany Lions went on to win six of their first seven games, outscoring the opposition by a com- bined margin of 17-6. Meanwhile, the men's soccer team was picked to finish second in the conference and followed a lightning- shortened 1-1 draw with George Mason on opening night Aug. 26 with wins over Syracuse, American and Penn, and losses to West Virginia and Pitt. Before the season began, men's soccer coach Jeff Cook told GoPSUSports.com that his team approached the shortened offseason with a desire to make a clean break from the spring campaign. Cook was determined to create some separa- tion, even though the team turned in one of the better performances in the program's recent history, going 9-2-2, reaching the Big Ten tournament cham- pionship game and advancing to the Sweet 16 at NCAAs. Following the season, Cook said he and his staff "relied on the guys to take a break." "That was one thing we talked about," he explained. "Typically in the summer when there's a longer off- season, guys will play more club soccer outside of Penn State. We tried to make sure that guys were aware of the need for recovery. "We did have a lot of guys come back and work our summer camp, so they had a chance to rebuild their fitness and get ready for preseason. In our sport, as a fall sport, it's a very quick preseason. It goes by in a flash, the couple of weeks that we do have. "It's about regenerating ourselves, getting refreshed. What I wanted to prevent was the players coming back and feeling like it was the same old same old, like it's one giant, long season." There are, of course, a couple of big differences between the Big Ten's tentative ideas about playing spring football and the actual plans that were put in place by the NCAA to hold spring championships in the Olympic sports. In soccer, volleyball, field hockey and cross country, there's less physical con- tact between the opposing teams than in football, so there's not as much wear and tear to recover from. What's more, there's been no com- petitive disparity between the confer- ences this year in the Olympic sports because everyone played during the spring, not just a select few leagues. Part of the problem with the concept of playing football in the spring was that the ACC, SEC and Big 12 went ahead with their fall seasons, meaning that only the Big Ten and Pac-12 would have been disadvantaged. But while a certain amount of parity is healthy and necessary, the Lions don't want to take that concept too far. For all the talk about making a clean break, they'd be happy to build on the momen- tum they built up last season. "While we're very proud of the suc- cess we had last spring, I think this fall is going to be about taking that next step as a program — competing for a chance to win the Big Ten title and represent Penn State deep into the NCAA cham- pionships," Cook said. "I think a lot of the experience we gained, the adversity we were able to overcome last year, is going to pay big dividends." ■ Penn State men's soccer coach Jeff Cook said he wanted his players to be "aware of the need for recovery" while playing two seasons in the same calendar year. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS The Permanent Campaign VARSITY VIEWS