Penn State running back Nicholas Singleton (10) runs away from Indiana defenders D'Angelo Ponds (5),Stephen Daley (8) and Jamari Sharpe (22) during the 1st half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)

I’m probably set up to fail with this topic, but I’ll give it my best shot and take one for the team.

The last time Penn State went through a season this turbulent was 2011 when the Nittany Nation collapsed, Joe Paterno was fired, and the school still accepted a bid to something called the Ticket City Bowl.

Interim coach Tom Bradley did his best to keep the program together, but many of the players did not want to go to Dallas to play Houston.

Some expressed frustration that turned contentious in a team meeting with then athletic director Dave Joyner when the Nits were informed.

The Cougars, led by future NFL quarterback Case Keenum, won 30-14 and then, mercifully, the Lions’ season ended with a 9-4 record (many don’t remember that PSU was 8-1 with only a loss to Alabama when Paterno was fired).

Fast forward 14 years.

If the Lions win at Michigan State, beat Nebraska at home and then win at Rutgers to close the regular season, they’ll be 6-6. They’ll be favored to do so.

Teams need six FBS wins but are permitted one FCS win (Villanova). That’s a low bar, but Penn State checks it.

The Big Ten has tie-ins with 10 bowls, and the Nits, incredibly, are currently 15th among the conference’s 18 teams at 0-6 so there will be plenty of options for the league to provide its quota without taxing PSU any further.

I thought about asking Terry Smith the week of the Ohio State game if the team would accept a bid if offered, and all I could envision was Jim Mora’s infamous “playoffs?” comment.

So I let it go, and he was asked a week later. He said yes.

“My feeling based on how they’re performing right now is, if we win enough games to get to bowl eligibility, I think they would play,” Smith said. “Because they haven’t laid down yet.”

In fairness, though he’s been honest and direct (refreshingly so), Smith probably couldn’t say anything else.

There are too many questions that won’t be resolved until a new coach is hired.

How much of the staff will be left to coach the team? What players are leaving? Unlike 2011, there was no transfer portal or NIL so the players had less say, which they didn’t appreciate.

My simple answer to this is to leave it up to the players. They’re the ones who have suffered through the gut-wrenching losses and the firing of James Franklin, who recruited them all.

Maybe the top draft-eligible seniors like Dani Dennis-Sutton, Nick Singleton, Kaytron Allen, A.J. Harris and Zane Durant will say no thanks, preferring not to risk injury in some half-full stadium. Several took that route in a more attractive Peach Bowl two years ago.

But maybe the underclassmen who do or don’t have their eye on the portal (which opens Jan. 2) wouldn’t mind an opportunity in, for example, the Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium on Dec. 27.

Many of them, such as Ethan Grunkemeyer and other young players could benefit from playing in front of the new coach or attract an offer from another school.

If that’s the case, even if it wouldn’t set an attendance or viewership record, Penn State shouldn’t make the arbitrary decision to say no.

Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.