I might have two beers on Saturday.
Probably not. But I might.
If you’ve spent time at my tailgating lot or listened to the podcast over the last few seasons, you know what a big deal this is.
If you don’t, allow me to fill you in. I am not a big drinker. I don’t drink often. I do have one beer before every Penn State football game – in addition but after I’ve had an Arnold Palmer to start the day.
But Penn State is in the middle of a five-game losing streak. It very well could get to six games before the sun goes down on Saturday. And I might have two beers in my system by then.
Earlier this offseason, we spent some time discussing superstitions and I’m a very superstitious person. One of the many superstitions I take part in on Saturdays is having one beer before the game.
It’s also because, generally speaking, I’m anxious about Penn State football, and having one beer is just enough for my system to calm the nerves. Two beers – depending on how quickly I have them – tends to make me more anxious for some reason.
In the midst of this five-game losing streak though, I am now questioning what there is to be anxious about.
Penn State is a two-touchdown underdog to Indiana. The Hoosiers. The school that Penn State has lost to twice.
There’s a good chance that even if Penn State makes bowl eligibility status, the team – which will likely have a new head coach by late December – will skip it, at least it certainly sounded like a possibility based on what Terry Smith said.
More importantly, the cosmic connection from me having one beer to Penn State winning and losing football games probably doesn’t exist and never existed in the first place.
In fact, my wife Anna and I have already proven this to a degree. As long as I can remember, she has, at every game, sat on my right.
Last week as we walked into Ohio Stadium, we both took our seats and it was just minutes before kickoff that we realized she was sitting on my left. We’ve been to more than 100 Penn State football games together at this point, and even since our first game at Metlife Stadium when Penn State played Syracuse, she has sat on my right.
Yet this season has us so frazzled that we just… kind of… sort of… forgot.
None of this is to say that those traditions won’t be back in full swing – even starting on Saturday and especially next season when Penn State has a new head coach. But this season has thrown so many Penn Staters for a loop with just how jarring the path from dreaming on a national title to whatever all of this is.
I also think that’s not necessarily a bad thing. For the last few seasons, Penn State has been very wrapped up in what could have been that at moments Penn State fandom has bordered on the line of being a chore. Things this season have been particularly tense and that in part led to the end of the James Franklin era at Penn State.
Now that Penn State, now under the direction of Terry Smith, returns to Beaver Stadium, it will be nice to have a sense of reminder that football is the central part of this process, but there is so much more than just football for why we enjoy it.
The smell of the grill. The sound of the Blue Band. The dew of the grass in the tailgate lots soaking through your shoes. OK, no one likes that last one but still.
The parts of being a fan that are just as fun as cheering on the team is what make college football above all other sports so great.
Winning is great, too, but I don’t know if Penn State will win on Saturday. I don’t think Penn State will.
I do know there is a high probability I will have two beers on Saturday, however.
vs 
Time: 12 p.m.
TV: Fox
Announcers: Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft
Radio: Penn State Sports Network
Announcers: Steve Jones, Jack Ham, Brian Tripp
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