Wisconsin HC Luke Fickell Preparing or "Hostile Environment" at Penn State

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The eyes of the Big Ten will be on Happy Valley this weekend as conference play gets started with a battle between two programs that must win the football game.

To each program's credit, they come into this game with a lot of momentum, excited about the future of their teams this year. This game will go a long way for the winner, catapulting them into a fun second half of the season.

For the Penn State Nittany Lions, they get the benefit of hosting the Badgers on Saturday evening inside what is going to be a very insane environment in Happy Valley. 

On Monday, Badgers head coach Luke Fickell spoke about just that in his press conference about how much of a challenge that his team is facing this week. 

He said, "This will be our first time going on the road… where it will be a hostile environment in the Big Ten. We have to be prepared for a lot of different things… There is no place that can be a wilder, crazier, louder environment than Happy Valley."

Fickell also mentioned that for a lot of his guys, it will be their first time inside Beaver Stadium. The crowd on Saturday night is going to be a rowdy one, as that entire fanbase is really excited to see exactly what their team is.

To this point, the Nittany Lions have beat up on their opponents and done so convincingly. The caveat is that obviously they have been in all three cases, about three weight classes ahead of their opponents so the competition hasn't been stout. 

This will be Matt Campbell's very first major test of his Penn State career. He has passed the first couple so far, but this one will be the biggest hurdle to clear, and his guys will be ready for it.

One of the best surprises of this young season has been the play of the young wide receiver Koby Howard. Howard is a guy who didn't get much of an opportunity last year and was kind of kept in the shadows.

He didn't leave to find another program when the new regime came in; he just put his head down and went to work. So far this year, he has been statistically the best wide receiver in the Big Ten, and yes, that includes Jeremiah Smith.

Now, this isn't to say that he is better than Smith, or even a similar player. What it is to say is that he is off to a great start.

He, along with the rest of the Nittany Lions, will get their chance on Saturday in front of their home fans to make a statement. The eyes of the college world will be on them. We will see if they can get the job done.

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