The Obligatory PSU Podcast

If reactions to our second podcast episode this season are any indication, the members of our panel aren't the only fans falling out of love with college football in its modern form. For all of you who share that disillusionment and dissatisfaction, we've got some good news, some bad news, and some decidedly worse news.

The good news is that there's still time to prevent college football's out-of-control locomotive from irrevocably jumping the tracks.

The bad news? That time is rapidly dwindling, with no further hope on the horizon if it runs out before changes happen.

But worst of all, the entity who holds all our hopes, dreams, and aspirations for a return to sanity in the palms of their hands?
The United States Congress.

So, yeah... with the midnight hour close at hand, as darkness falls across the land, our crew takes a look at the Protect College Sports Act and, irrespective of its eventual fate, delves into whether the bill itself represents a cause worth championing for anyone who loathes the current trajectory of intercollegiate sports.

HOSTED BY: Brandon Noble, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani

The Obligatory PSU Podcast will be brought to you once again this season by Gold Hen, a Penn State alumni-owned company, makers of the truly one-of-a-kind Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix. Try it today by going to: GoldHenLLC.com

The unique flavor profile of Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix complements a variety of alcohols and makes an excellent marinade or cooking ingredient. This year, the guys at Gold Hen are teaming up with Landon Tengwall to put a distinctly Penn State spin on their signature product with a special batch of Blue-and-White-themed Gold Hen 58.

The best way to support the show this season is to try some for yourself – go to GoldHenLLC.com, reserve an autographed bottle of Gold Hen 58, and take 10% off at checkout with the promo code: MAILMAN

How much has playing football for Penn State changed between the late 1900s and the digital age? This week, we consult our in-house experts: Two former football players, separated by 30 years exactly (Brandon Noble, freshman 1992 & Landon Tengwall, freshman 2021), compare their experiences to see how much "being a Penn State Football player" has changed from one generation to the next and how it has morphed to fit the times.

HOSTED BY: Brandon Noble, Landon Tengwall, Chris Buchignani

The Obligatory PSU Podcast will be brought to you once again this season by Gold Hen, a Penn State alumni-owned company, makers of the truly one-of-a-kind Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix. Try it today by going to: GoldHenLLC.com

The unique flavor profile of Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix complements a variety of alcohols and makes an excellent marinade or cooking ingredient. This year, the guys at Gold Hen are teaming up with Landon Tengwall to put a distinctly Penn State spin on their signature product with a special batch of Blue-and-White-themed Gold Hen 58.

The best way to support the show this season is to try some for yourself – go to GoldHenLLC.com and reserve your autographed bottle of Gold Hen Batch 58.

With all the upheaval in Happy Valley and across the college football landscape, who's lost that loving feeling?

You don't need to squint too hard to see the 2026 college football season on the horizon. Before you know it, September 5th will dawn, and you'll be gathering in front of the TV with family and friends, filing into Beaver Stadium with fellow tailgaters, or struggling to remember your streaming password as Penn State's kickoff against Marshall looms. It will mark the beginning of one of most unusual and consequential seasons in program history.

So where's your head at? With roughly six weeks left before Matt Campbell unveils his take on Nittany Lions football, our resident fans got together for some raw and honest talk about their hopes, fears, frustrations, and disappointments, not simply around the condition of Penn State, but the state of college football itself.

HOSTED BY: Mike "The Mailman" Herr, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani

The Obligatory PSU Podcast will be brought to you once again this season by Gold Hen, a Penn State alumni-owned company, makers of the truly one-of-a-kind Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix. Try it today by going to: GoldHenLLC.com

The unique flavor profile of Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix complements a variety of alcohols and makes an excellent marinade or cooking ingredient. This year, the guys at Gold Hen are teaming up with Landon Tengwall to put a distinctly Penn State spin on their signature product with a special batch of Blue-and-White-themed Gold Hen 58.

The best way to support the show this season is to try some for yourself – go to GoldHenLLC.com and reserve your autographed bottle of Gold Hen Batch 58.

Aaaaaand... we're back.

Roughly six months into the Matt Campbell era in Happy Valley, Penn State is sinking like a stone in the national recruiting rankings, repeatedly beclowned by former bluechip commits who ultimately spurned the Nittany Lions for the likes of Nebraska and Rutgers. Chronically-online, minutiae-obsessed superfans are wringing their hands raw. Meanwhile, the ranks of the unplugged traditionalists are gushing over Campbell's embrace of history, and casual fans are still blissfully huffing that new coach smell.

For this, our inaugural podcast of the season, the full Obligatory crew - Landon included! - pointlessly speculate about the program's future with limited insight and even less concrete information. Indeed, it is the plethora of unknown commodities and unanswerable questions that will continue haunting Nittany Nation until the Lions can finally play actual football this September.

Is Penn State football's new leadership playing the "Moneyball" long game while restoring the spirit of Success with Honor or placating a shrinking segment of the fanbase as the rest of college football passes them by?

HOSTED BY: Brandon Noble, Mike "The Mailman" Herr, Landon Tengwall, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani

The Obligatory PSU Podcast will be brought to you once again this season by Gold Hen, a Penn State alumni-owned company, makers of the truly one-of-a-kind Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix. Try it today by going to: GoldHenLLC.com

The unique flavor profile of Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix complements a variety of alcohols and makes an excellent marinade or cooking ingredient. This year, the guys at Gold Hen are teaming up with Landon Tengwall to put a distinctly Penn State spin on their signature product with a special batch of Blue-and-White-themed Gold Hen 58.

The best way to support the show this season is to try some for yourself – go to GoldHenLLC.com, reserve an autographed bottle of Gold Hen 58, and take 10% off at checkout with the promo code: MAILMAN

Penn State's 2025 football season officially came to a close with the Nittany Lions' 22-10 victory over Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl. While both rosters were limited by player injuries and opt-outs, interim head coach Terry Smith and a Penn State team that went to hell and back over 12 regular season games plus the bowl both got to leave the stage as winners. The guys give their final thoughts on Penn State's victory at Yankee Stadium and the current state of bowl season in modern college football.

Chris and Noble weigh in on Penn State's new defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn: https://youtu.be/rPjG5_9iSHM

HOSTED BY: Brandon Noble, Mike "The Mailman" Herr, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani

The Obligatory PSU Podcast has been brought to you all season long by Gold Hen, a Penn State alumni-owned company, makers of the truly one-of-a-kind Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix. Try it today by going to: GoldHenLLC.com

The unique flavor profile of Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix complements a variety of alcohols and makes an excellent marinade or cooking ingredient.

The best way to support the show this season is to try some for yourself – go to GoldHenLLC.com and take 10% off at checkout with the promo code: MAILMAN

As calendar year 2025 approaches its end, the guys pour some egg nog, gather around the yule log, and retell the long and winding tale of a crazy year in Penn State football. Sure to warm your heart and freeze your blood, it's the perfect distraction from (or contribution to) your holiday season stress.

Check out our Pinstripe Bowl preview on this week's Pregame Show: https://youtu.be/f7rWyWasBLY?si=du0E-ACzSGEdQApi

HOSTED BY: Brandon Noble, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani

The Obligatory PSU Podcast is brought to you all season long by Gold Hen, a Penn State alumni-owned company, makers of the truly one-of-a-kind Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix. Try it today by going to: GoldHenLLC.com

The unique flavor profile of Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix complements a variety of alcohols and makes an excellent marinade or cooking ingredient.

The best way to support the show this season is to try some for yourself – go to GoldHenLLC.com and take 10% off at checkout with the promo code: MAILMAN

Penn State football has a new head coach! It may have taken Pat Kraft a couple of months, cost us a recruiting class, and ended with a stranger-than-fiction leaked audio scandal destined for memetic infamy, but Penn State's AD got his man in former Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell. The guys react to Campbell's introductory press conference - expanding on their thoughts from The Obligatory PSU Pregame Show and adding Brandon's perspective - and then consider what comes next on a roller coaster ride that (with roster retention, staff changes, a bowl game, and the transfer portal all looming) may be closer to its beginning than its end.

More on the Matt Campbell hire from this week's Pregame Show: https://youtu.be/OAFT1ilAOik?si=owIdRjeCYBZdR2VH

HOSTED BY: Brandon Noble, Mike "The Mailman" Herr, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani

The Obligatory PSU Podcast is brought to you all season long by Gold Hen, a Penn State alumni-owned company, makers of the truly one-of-a-kind Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix. Try it today by going to: GoldHenLLC.com

The unique flavor profile of Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix complements a variety of alcohols and makes an excellent marinade or cooking ingredient.

The best way to support the show this season is to try some for yourself – go to GoldHenLLC.com and take 10% off at checkout with the promo code: MAILMAN

Mercifully overshadowed by the real news of the day (Matt Campbell to PSU), the largely innocuous leaked audio of athletic director Pat Kraft's behind-closed-doors meeting with leaders of the football team put one final, bizarre turd in the punch bowl of Penn State's wild, wacky, embarrassing, and yet somehow pretty successful head coaching search. We discuss the fallout and call for a ceasefire in the suddenly reignited civil war between Staters of good faith.

Watch Noble and Chris discuss Matt Campbell here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D8SzofSev4

HOSTED BY: Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani

The Obligatory PSU Podcast is brought to you all season long by Gold Hen, a Penn State alumni-owned company, makers of the truly one-of-a-kind Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix. Try it today by going to: GoldHenLLC.com

The unique flavor profile of Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix complements a variety of alcohols and makes an excellent marinade or cooking ingredient.

The best way to support the show this season is to try some for yourself – go to GoldHenLLC.com and take 10% off at checkout with the promo code: MAILMAN

Is it gonna be Kalani Sitake? Jeff Brohm? Some shadowy mystery candidate? And whoever it ends up being, will that guy actually have a roster left to coach by the time he gets here? As we all sit on increasingly uncomfortable pins and needles awaiting resolution of Penn State's marathon head coaching search, the guys ponder whether Pat Kraft ever really had a plan at all and try to tie up some other loose ends that will still have relevance even if someone gets hired before you get a chance to listen. 

HOSTED BY: Mike "The Mailman" Herr, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani

The Obligatory PSU Podcast is brought to you all season long by Gold Hen, a Penn State alumni-owned company, makers of the truly one-of-a-kind Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix. Try it today by going to: GoldHenLLC.com

The unique flavor profile of Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix complements a variety of alcohols and makes an excellent marinade or cooking ingredient.

The best way to support the show this season is to try some for yourself – go to GoldHenLLC.com and take 10% off at checkout with the promo code: MAILMAN

BONUS CONTENT: As hinted at during this week's show, we couldn't let the Terry Smith momentum pass - along with quite possibly our last (God willing) opportunity to speculate about Penn State's head coaching search - without looping in Obligatory's two favorite Nittany Lions Lettermen. Before you sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, enjoy a side old school football talk and tough truth telling as both Brandon Noble and Landon Tengwall join the panel.

We're always thankful for you, our audience, and we wish you the happiest of Thanksgiving weekends. Go State!

HOSTED BY: Brandon Noble, Landon Tengwall, Mike "The Mailman" Herr, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani

The Obligatory PSU Podcast is brought to you all season long by Gold Hen, a Penn State alumni-owned company, makers of the truly one-of-a-kind Gold Hen Bloody Mary Mix. Try it today by going to: GoldHenLLC.com

CHECK OUT THE STOREWIDE BLACK FRIDAY SALE – go to GoldHenLLC.com and take 10% off at checkout with the promo code: MAILMAN