STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – One might think this was to be expected.

The Eastern football team goes into Happy Valley, playing in front of 104,488 people, of which about 50 were Eastern fans, and has to take on the No. 14 team in front of the entire nation.

Sure, maybe the Panthers expected to compete more than they did, but the odds were stacked against them. They knew they had to play perfect to contend with the Nittany Lions, and they didn’t.

The result was a 52-3 drubbing.

So you might expect that they would have accepted the defeat. Called it a great experience, moved on and said it is what it is.

Not quite.

“Every time we step on the field we expect to play well,” Eastern offensive coordinator Roy Wittke said after the loss. “We have a standard of play we set for ourself, and if we play up to that standard it can be a special performance. We didn’t do that today for a number of reasons.”

The mood of the team after loss was not a ‘happy to be here’ attitude. It didn’t matter that Penn State was bigger and faster than they were, they thought they could contend, compete, at least make things interesting for a little while.

And when that wasn’t the case, the mood became disappointment.

Not necessarily disappointment is not winning. These players knew winning was a long shot, but they wanted to earn a little respect from the Penn State faithful who mocked their own team for even scheduling a team as “small” and “weak” as Eastern.

The Penn State fans got what they expected. Panther Nation did not.

It’s not all bad, though. While you’d seem hard-pressed to find a positive in a 52-3 loss, Eastern coaches were quick to point out a number of them that came from the game. One came from offensive line coach Jeff Hoover, whose unit had the daunting task of stopping the mammoth Nittany Lion defensive line.

While Hoover was disappointed in the performance – Penn State finished with five sacks and 11 tackles for a loss – when asked if the game will make his unit stronger against Ohio Valley Conference schools, he said the words were taken right out of his mouth.

“That’s exactly what you say as a coach,” Hoover said. “I tell them if they can block these guys, they should be able to block any team in the OVC.”

There were more successes too, believe it or not. Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said he was pleased with the special teams play. While he was concerned about allowing a blocked punt for the third consecutive game, he was pleased with red-shirt junior Kevin Cook’s punts and the coverage by the punt team, specifically by sophomore wide receiver Lorence Ricks, who is a gunner on the punt coverage team.

Likewise, senior kicker Austin Signor proved his big leg can boot the ball on the big stage, kicking touchbacks on both of his kickoff attempts, and nailing a 43-yard field goal for the Panthers’ only points.

It’s safe to say the game put the Panthers in an interesting situation. It’s good to not be satisfied just showing up against a Big Ten powerhouse. Even after losing by 48 points, the game can only give the Panthers confidence going forward in OVC play, which is key because that’s all they have left this season.

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