CAPITAL ONE BOWL Two-year layoff helps Penn State stay focused

The Nittany Lions will battle No. 19 Auburn Wednesday.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The sun is shining, and a cool breeze is blowing. It's perfect football weather -- if only players could focus on football.
Many a college football team has become distracted after reaching its bowl destination, letting the parades and the warm weather overshadow the pregame preparations.
But after a two-year stretch without a bowl game -- unprecedented in the Joe Paterno era -- players at No. 10 Penn State (9-3) say that nothing can distract them from their preparations for Wednesday's game against No. 19 Auburn (8-4) in the CapitalOne Bowl.
"We haven't been to a bowl game in two years, and the three games we lost, we were just one play away," linebacker Deryck Toles said. "It's good to get out here and play a good team so we can show we can really play."
The Nittany Lions arrived in Florida a week ago, shortly after wrapping up finals -- and shortly before a Christmas snowstorm dumped nearly a foot of snow on their State College, Pa., campus.
Spending their first few days in St. Petersburg, the Nittany Lions have mixed time at the beach and at Orlando's theme parks with daily practices.
Balance
Center Joe Iorio said that balance was necessary to keep some of the younger players focused.
"It's difficult when you've got so much going on down here, and the beautiful weather, and to get some of the younger guys to understand we have a game to play is kind of tough," Iorio said. "But we've been looking forward to this game for so long that I don't think it's a question of getting motivated so much as just working out the kinks."
And there will be kinks to work out. Penn State doesn't play in any of the post-Thanksgiving rivalry games, and the Big Ten doesn't have a championship game. That means it's been more than a month since the Nittany Lions last took the field, giving a 61-7 drubbing to Michigan State on Nov. 23.
But if there are some concerns about rust, the time off has been good for Penn State in another way. It's provided a much-needed chance to rest and heal up for the bowl game.
A late schedule change forced the Nittany Lions to take their bye week Sept. 7 after playing just one game. That meant that Penn State played 11 Saturdays in a row, taking a toll on players such as linebacker Gino Capone, who missed the last two games but was expected to start on Wednesday.
"It's kind of nice to give your body a rest, because it's a long season and everybody's a little bumped and bruised," fullback Sean McHugh said. "A couple weeks off helps us."