(Image source: Centre Daily Times)

BY BRAD GALBREATH

ANCHOR JONAH JAVAD

You're watching multisource sports news analysis from Newsy.
 

Coaches have been fired. School officials are gone. A reputation is tarnished. A lot has changed at Penn State University in the last several days. And count security as one of them.

ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi explains the concern about safety going into this weekend’s home game against Nebraska.

“We’ve seen volatility happen on this campus earlier this week, and without judgment on how representative that is in the total feeling of the student body this week, certainly university administrators understand that the country is going to be watching how this game plays out, and there will be a strengthened security presence surrounding it.”

After riots rocked the streets in State College, Yahoo! Sports writer Graham Watson says he sympathizes with Husker nation.

“Can you blame Nebraska for having concerns? Students took to the streets and became raucous - and in some cases violent - during their protests, which were shown nonstop on every major news channel, sports or otherwise.”

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne even encouraged fans to not draw attention to themselves by wearing red to the game. NBCSports' Rick Chandler agrees that could only invite trouble. Even Penn State fans are divided on whether to wear the usual white, or wear blue to support the victims of sexual abuse.

“So will the two factions sit in separate areas of the stadium? Will there be protests outside? And what if some poor Nebraska fan shows up wearing red? (Is pummeled with protest signs).”

But one reporter for WTAE in Pittsburgh thinks enough has already been done to prevent any serious events.

“Security will be on high alert. We don’t expect anything to happen because everybody is on such notice right now, but you never know. And it’s always better to be safe than sorry.”

But in case Husker fans are still unsure, the Lincoln Journal Star points out-- security isn’t the only reason Nebraska fans should feel safe.

“The game will go on as planned Saturday. And Nebraskans can take solace in two facts: They can expect plenty of cops around the stadium, and the early kickoff could curb pregame drinking.”

In an unofficial poll from the Lincoln Journal Star, 39 percent of readers said they were not going to the game, but are worried about people who are. Only 2 percent of those going to the game were worried about their own safety.

Transcript by Newsy.