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Opponent Preview BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com BY BRIAN NEUBERT In the wake of NCAA sanctions ticipated a sharp decline for Penn State in 2012. Anything but has happened, though the sting of massive schol- arship reductions will surely be felt in the years to come. In the meantime, even after of nuclear proportion, many an- STRUGGLING BOILERMAKERS HOST SURGING LIONS Game 9: Penn State Nittany Lions 3:30 p.m. ET • Ross-Ade Stadium • TV: ESPNU the season," said Nate Bauer, who covers Penn State for Blue White Illustrated. "What they're going to remember is a group of kids and their coach that were incredibly motivated to represent them- selves and their university in a positive light when it was essen- tially buried by scandal. the Nittany Lions were cherry- picked of some of their top play- ers on the eve of the season after the NCAA granted them immu- nity from transfer restrictions as part of the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Penn State has thrived on the field under first- year coach Bill O'Brien. Since starting off 0-2, Penn State won five in a row before fall- ing to unbeaten Ohio State this weekend. The Nittany Lions are postsea- First-year coach Bill O'Brien has Penn State play- ing well, even after the program was slapped with massive sanctions prior to the season. Mark Selders/PSU son-ineligible. But if they were eli- gible to appear in the Big Ten title game, they'd be just a game out of the lead in the Leaders Division, trailing just the Buckeyes, who are also barred from the postseason. "When Penn State fans look back on this season, they're not going to remember that these guys didn't go to the Outback Bowl for a chance to beat South Carolina or that the Nittany Lions lost a couple of games they prob- ably should have won early in might have been buried in Au- gust, when the NCAA kicked open the door for any Lion want- ing to leave to leave with imme- diate eligibility elsewhere, no questions asked. That allowed big-time run- ning back Silas Redd to transfer to USC; top returning receiver Justin Brown to move to Oklahoma; and kicker Anthony Fera to become a Texas Longhorn. There were many others. Whether it was returning It looked like Penn State " QB Matt McGloin is the Big Ten's most improved player this season. Mark Selders/PSU "Everyone's talking about them losing guys," quarterback Robert Marve said. "I couldn't imagine if they had everybody." It hasn't mattered all that much, though. At least not yet. O'Brien's success thus far can Purdue players, signed recruits or com- mitted prospects, a significant immediate bite was taken out of Penn State's roster. be chalked up to his offense, the phase of the game that was a weakness last year and the unit hit with the most attrition. A platoon player a year ago, quarterback Matt McGloin has thrived under O'Brien, the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator, putting together a season worthy of Big Ten Offen- sive Player-of-the-Year consider- ation, though Braxton Miller, De- nard Robinson and Montee Ball stand in his way. "In O'Brien, McGloin finally "That amounted to a huge boost of public confidence to a kid who already has plenty of confidence internally. He just needed an op- portunity to really take control of the team, and with O'Brien's vote, he finally did that this offseason. He spent a ton of time learning the offense, which perfectly suits his abilities with tons of short to medium passes. He had to- tal command of it once the pre- season came around. found himself a coach that be- lieved in his abilities and gave him the keys to the system outright early in the summer, " Bauer said. Ten in passing, averaging 264.4 yards per game. He's thrown 16 touchdowns to just three intercep- tions and is completing 62 percent of his passes, many of them to Al- len Robinson, the league's lead- ing receiver with 52 receptions for 631 yards and eight touchdowns. Robinson's filled a gaping void at receiver left by Brown and the graduated Derek Moye. The senior's leading the Big " GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 23, EXPRESS 9 • 7