After losing to the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Penn State Nittany Lions regrouped on Saturday and hammered the overwhelmed Purdue Boilermakers, 34-9.
As Devon Edwards points out at Black Shoe Diaries, the team certainly bounced back with an authority from what was a tough defeat:
After last week's loss, many, myself included, openly wondered whether this team could find the enthusiasm to keep playing at the high level they'd accustomed themselves to. This game was certainly an answer in the affirmative.
Purdue certainly didn't prove a challenging test--they drop to 0-5 in the conference, and Danny Hope's job prospects slip more and more with each passing week--but Penn State did to them what good teams do to bad ones. Next week's trip to Lincoln beckons, and Penn State's got the momentum headed back in the right direction.
Penn State has, of course, had some high-profile sanctions as a result of the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse case. Many pundits around the nation thought that the Nittany Lions would be a doormat for the next decade, losing their relevency in the Big Ten.
However, that hasn't happened. Penn State's players have overcome the adversity under first year head coach Bill O'Brien to become one of the best teams in the conference, with a hard-nosed style that recalls the days of Joe Paterno.
Against Purdue, the Nittany Lions ran up and down the field seemingly at will, earning another victory and moving further past the memories of the offseason.