It's happened before; it will happen again. The dreaded week-one upset is something that all coaches and fanbases are paranoid about, but college football at large is begging to see.
If there is one team that should be on red alert it is the Penn State Nittany Lions.
This offseason for the Nittany Lions has been filled with an incredible sense of pride and accomplishment for the program. They made the really hard but obvious move to move on from James Franklin at the end of last year.
His heir apparent became Matt Campbell after a very fascinating hiring process. Campbell came in and immediately won over the players, alumni, and fanbase. He wrapped his arms back around the alumni base and kept as many guys on the roster as he could.
The goodwill with the fanbase came over time as he continued to speak to the media and show that his team was going to be in a really great spot heading into 2026.
One of the major things that he had to accomplish after he got settled in was bringing over all of his Iowa State players who were open to entering the transfer portal. The final number there was 24, and the Matt Campbell era was officially off and running at Penn State.
The positive is that up until Saturday, there has been no potential for anything negative to happen to the program. No losses were waiting on the other side of Saturday, and the vibes around the program just continued to rise.
That all ends on Saturday. The Nittany Lions welcome the Marshall Thundering Herd to Beaver Stadium to kick off their season.
Now, this game on paper is all Nittany Lions. Penn State is 23.5 point favorites on Saturday , which is a very healthy number and one that shouldn't concern any Penn State fans.
However, the doubt should be there. Saturday will be the biggest game Campbell has ever coached; it will be the most people any of his transfer players have ever played in front of, and it will be most of the roster's first time as Nittany Lions.
Furthermore, the story around the program is that everything has been going really well inside it for the last nine months. If you think that Marshall doesn't want to spoil the party, you're dead wrong.
There is something totally freeing about being the underdog in a game that you have no business winning. It opens up the possibility for anything to happen, and one that will legitimately keep coaches up all night on Friday.
The fastest way to lose all of the built-up goodwill would be to lay an egg on Saturday. If they do that, many people will turn on the new regime.
The reverse is also true, if they go out and dominate it will just add fuel to the flame as people continue to buy into this program.
