Penn State hasn’t won in Columbus in a long time.
In November of 2011, Barack Obama was still in his first term as president, LeBron James had yet to win an NBA Championship and PSU was finishing off its season without legendary coach Joe Paterno, who had been fired in November 2011 amid the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal.
Interim coach Tom Bradley only won one game in his four games running the program, but that win was at Ohio State.
It’s been almost a dozen years, and Penn State hasn’t repeated the feat in six games at Ohio Stadium. But this years team has more than a chance.
Many expect this to be the year Penn State slays the dragon.
That includes fans, media and– believe it or not– Penn State’s players.
Penn State defensive ends Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac spoke on the “Next Up” Podcast hosted by former Penn State tight end Adam Breneman. The podcast was conducted in front of a live audience inside Champ’s Sports Bar in State College, and included a Q&A segment for Penn State’s fans to ask the players questions. In the last question, a fan asked Robinson and Isaac to predict Saturday’s game.
The answers was what Penn State fans would like to hear.
“A win,” Robinson said.
“1-0,” Isaac said.
“What’s your prediction for this weekend?”
“A win”
“1-0”
Chop Robinson and Disa Isaac on Penn State vs Ohio State this weekend 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/mWdoOAEkzN
— Mercury (@CollegeSportsCo) October 16, 2023
The responses earned applause from the crowd.
For Isaac, keeping things as normal as possible is key. But at the same time, everybody knows that playing the No. 3 team in the country is a big deal.
“I feel like we try to keep the same approach,” Isaac said, “but obviously, everybody knows what’s at stake, and we’re trying to put our best foot forward as we do every week. But obviously, you can feel the energy everywhere.”
Robinson was a little more blunt.
“It’s a different type of energy for me,” he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
