Let’s be honest.

If and when the Penn State Nittany Lions finish their demolition of the Eastern football team Saturday in State College, Pa., very little will have changed about the Panthers’ direction.

Saturday’s game has absolutely no effect on how the Panthers will finish in the Ohio Valley Conference. Whether they lose 70-0 or pull off one of the biggest upsets in college football history, it won’t give them an advantage against Eastern Kentucky, which has already defeated the Panthers.

But none of that matters Saturday.

This game means everything.

Never mind this will be the biggest crowd ever to see an Eastern football team compete, even if Penn State fails to sell out its 107,000-plus seat mammoth of a stadium. Never mind the $450,000 the Nittany Lions are shelling out to Eastern athletics just to make the Panthers their self-proposed whipping boys for a day.

Regardless of the outcome of Saturday’s game – lose big, lose with respect, or shock the world – only positive can come out of it.

Exposure means everything for college football player, and there isn’t much more exposure you can get than playing in the biggest stadium in the country, against one of the top programs in the nation, and on the Worldwide Leader in Sports, being broadcast in millions of homes across the nation.

Dorothy, this isn’t Kansas anymore. Or O’Brien Field, for that matter.

Win or lose, Saturday’s game helps put Eastern on the map. For guys like senior center Chaz Millard, it’s an audition to help build an already-impressive NFL resume. For guys like senior quarterback Jake Christensen, it’s a chance to prove he’s still got what it takes to succeed on the big stage. And for guys like senior safeties Adrian Arrington and Seymour Loftman, and many others around the team, it’s a chance to make themselves a blip on the radar of NFL scouts who don’t always get a chance to see Football Championship Subdivision prospects in person.

What can be expected Saturday is up for debate. The Nittany Lions will play without their star linebacker Sean Lee. Penn State head coach Joe Paterno said Lee would be out regardless of who their opponent was, but pundits argue Paterno isn’t losing any sleep over being without one of the best linebackers in the country against an FCS foe.

Even still, it’s not expected to be pretty. If Paterno has his way, all of his starters will be on the bench by halftime, if not sooner.

But Eastern head coach Bob Spoo’s crew is hungry. Tuesday’s practice could arguably have been the most loose the Panthers have practiced all season. And members of the team had a players-only gathering at midfield after their customary unit meetings they end practice with.

No, it might not matter.

It might not matter how hungry the Panthers are Saturday. Penn State is good. Really good.But anything can happen. And regardless of what ends up happening, Saturday is monumental for the Panthers.

See you in Happy Valley.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.