The bashing has begun, two months before the first game.

And it's easy to bash when you're talking about Penn State's upcoming football schedule.

Fans want their team to be tested, and fans want to watch quality opponents when they're paying quality amounts of cash for tickets. And they want everyone to stop making fun of the Big Ten.

Of course, a non-league schedule of Akron, Syracuse, Temple and Eastern Illinois doesn't satisfy any of those.

But let's look at this from another perspective.

Part of it is an aberration, a rare chance to pocket another $4 million from an eighth home game. Remember that the Nittany Lions travel to Alabama next year and get the Crimson Tide at home in 2011.

Part of this also is a change in the college football landscape. The recent 12-game schedule makes it easy for everyone to grab a guaranteed non-con victory at home.

But the most important thing?

Like it or not, this schedule will do more to help Penn State make a national title run than hurt it.

Look at it this way: With the Nittany Lions breaking in multiple new receivers, offensive linemen and defensive backs, it will take a while to find their stride, to play up to their talent level.

Go back to 2005 to see how this works.

The Lions had a new quarterback, new receivers and somewhat of a confidence issue.

So it helped that Michael Robinson had warm-ups in Beaver Stadium against South Florida, Cincinnati and Central Michigan.

And that

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the Big Ten opener was at Northwestern -- not at Michigan or Ohio State or Illinois.

Because of that scheduling, the offense, in particular, was able to work through its early struggles, step by step. Confidence was built, week by week. New players were able to gain a foothold. An identity was formed.

The near "perfect game" against Minnesota and the titanic victory over Ohio State couldn't have happened without what was gained from the first three weeks.

That brings us to this season.

Give Daryll Clark three weeks to get used to his new line and to new receivers like Chaz Powell and Derek Moye and whatever true freshman gets the green light early. Give the defensive backs, like William Penn's Knowledge Timmons, time to gain experience during their first meaningful minutes.

Know that the first true test will be at home ... during a stadium "whiteout" ... and with revenge as a factor, when Iowa comes. That's perfect timing, too.

And figure that this team should be ready enough to go on the road by Week 5 at Illinois.

So, in a sense, this schedule can really work.

Michigan won't be daunting at the Big House. Ohio State comes to Beaver Stadium. Indiana is back for another beating.

Northwestern could be difficult, sandwiched between Michigan and Ohio State.

And Michigan State is always a chore at East Lansing in late November.

But the Lions could be 11-0 or 10-1 by then.

"If you want to play for the national championship, the most important thing is going 12-0," said Jerry Palm, a respected national Bowl Championship Series expert. "If you're Penn State, 12-0 is more important than anything else."

So take the schedule for what it's worth this season, though far from perfect.

Because those sleepers in September will be forgotten easily enough if business is taken care of in November.

Just look back a few years for some perspective.
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the Daily Record/Sunday News. Reach him at 771-2104 or fbodani@ydr.com