From the players to the coaches to the fans, everybody brought their Saturday best against Indiana, but in keeping with the theme of this cursed season, it wasn't enough. The Hoosiers prevailed, and in heart-breaking fashion, narrowly avoiding a costly upset loss and denying Coach Terry Smith and the beleaguered Penn State fanbase the signature win they deserve. And yet amid that disappointment there also arose a powerful reminder of everything that makes Penn State football great - the resilient stuff that will survive this moment as it has endured many tougher trials in the past and will be here waiting, strong as ever, when the storm breaks and the next coach arrives.
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
For delivery before Thanksgiving, place your orders before kickoff of the Penn State-Michigan State game on Saturday, November 15!
Following the annual dispiriting loss to Ohio State - somehow both more AND less discouraging than usual - the unranked Penn State Nittany Lions return home to face undefeated and second-ranked Indiana as double-digit underdogs... IN FOOTBALL. What is this world coming to? And what's next? Real "wrath of God" type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling. Forty years of darkness. Earthquakes. Volcanoes. The dead rising from the grave.
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
Bye Week's over now. Back to the real world.
Penn State didn't get the win in Terry Smith's debut as interim head coach versus Iowa, but they did cover the spread for the first time this season. Can the Nittany Lions make it a streak and keep the margin within three touchdowns in Columbus? It seems like the best a beleaguered Nittany Nation can hope for. The guys ponder PSU's quest for small comfort against the top-ranked Buckeyes and a college coaching carousel that is quickly spinning out of control.
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
Time to refocus on football, concentrate on all that lies ahead, and make an uplifting episode about the future and its boundless possibilities. Or at least that was the plan for this week. Then Horne got into the good stuff, and, well, it turns out we're not all the way over the breakup just yet. Maybe next week.
After all, just like the Penn State football team's season and the Athletic Department's quest for a championship-winning coach: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
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
What began with such promise and hope in the wake of Bill O'Brien's departure has now come to an end in a fashion heretofore unseen at Penn State. James Franklin has been relieved of his duties as head football coach of the Nittany Lions.
Athletic Director Pat Kraft has addressed Nittany Nation about the decision and interim head coach Terry Smith, a Nittany Lion through and through, has previewed what's next for the team's team six regular season games.
Way more ground to cover than we can handle in a single episode, but the guys at least begin to unpack some of the most monumental news in the history of Penn State football.
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
From bad to worse to inconceivable (and yes, we know what it means).
After another picture-perfect afternoon and wonderful weekend of celebration in Happy Valley was soured by an inexplicably dysfunctional football performance, Kevin and Chris trudged their way down from Beaver Stadium to Landon's Downtown studio to lay down some instant reactions. "Enjoy" this little bonus content in its audio format here or as video on For The Blogy's YouTube: https://youtu.be/vkWsaL01UFw
The usual Pregame Show and Podcast with the full crew will be coming later in the week, and of course, we'll be responding to any and all breaking news in the world of Penn State football. Hang in there, Nittany Lions fans.
HOSTED BY: Landon Tengwall, 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
FRODO glances at SAM ... he is WEEPING.
CLOSE ON: FRODO wrapping an ARM around SAM’S SHOULDER.
FRODO (calm)
I'm glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things.
HIGH WIDE: TWO TINY HOBBITS waiting to die amid a cataclysmic landscape ... LAVA erupts around them ... FIREBALLS rain down from the sky.
We SLOWLY FADE TO BLACK...
Happy Homecoming. Go State.
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
Welp....
Nothing quite like a fresh Obligatory when the guys are (sadly) at their best to cure what ails ya.
Uncurl yourself from the fetal position, take your medicine, and crawl back into the saddle, because UCLA beckons, and you know you're too dumb, addicted, and masochistic to resist Saturday's siren song.
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
PREEMPTIVE THERAPY! For us (some of us at least)? Certainly. For you too? Maybe also yes.
Once, every so often, there comes a crucial inflection point so fraught with meaning and pregnant with possibility, mere contemplation of its monumental consequence can bring the beholder to the brink of insanity. Such is the state of affairs for much of Penn State's fan base leading up to the third-ranked Nittany Lions' clash with Oregon under the lights at the White Out. With so much on the line, and every criticism of coach and quarterback in the biggest games ringing in their ears, Chris and Kevin air their hopes, fears, and frustrations about one game that could very well shatter or cement every narrative that has dogged this program for a decade, sorting through the jangled nerves, rankled senses, and shattered confidence brought on by a decade of perpetual failures in moment of truth. All the while, Brandon and Mailman marvel at grotesque spectacle of their tortured thinking.
If you need to share in the self-administered coping mechanisms to soothe your mania and hasten the long hours until game day (and GameDay), then join us and ease your troubled heart and mind. However, if you count yourself among the rational and well-adjusted, why then you can just kick back and join Mike the Mailman and Noble in their bemusement at the curious madness of Horne and Buchignani.
Either way, we can think of worse ways to count down the minutes to what promises to be among the most consequential evenings in Beaver Stadium history.
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: MAILMANv
There's a shortage of folks who can seamlessly code switch between profane tirades over football minutiae and waxing poetic about the magic of the Nittany Valley, and the cast of this progrum oversamples that population to an absurd degree. With Noble again sleeping off old age this week, Mailman, Horne, and Buchignani are left to fill another hour-ish of nominally Penn State football-related #content, so kick back, relax, and enjoy the start to Penn State's bye week with the mix tape of eulogizing a Happy Valley icon, deep reflection on what it means to be a Penn Stater, and bitching about the insanity of the AP Poll that you didn't know you needed.
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
Two games into a purported national championship run, the Nittany Lions are playing like their national ranking - number two.
Packed with the sort of therapeutic soul-searching, gut-wrenching overreactions to what, at the end of the day, was a 34-0 victory over a nothing opponent in early September that has made Obligatory the go-to Penn State podcast for mentally imbalanced fans across the internets, this entertaining tug-o-war between the neuroses of Chris and Kevin and the sunshine stability of Mike the Mailman is just another reminder of why we all can't wait for Noble to come back out of jetlagged hibernation.
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
Thanks to the podcast's Fall 2025 sponsor: Gold Hen *Use promo code MAILMAN at checkout
To whatever extent a powerhouse football program grafted onto an R1 land-grant university can have a meaningful relationship with a billion-dollar multinational sneaker company built on, let's say, questionable labor practices, that is the sort of partnership Penn State formed with Nike. Back in the halcyon days when an apparel and marketing agreement could feel just a bit less, to borrow a term from Coach Franklin, "transactional," JoePa and Phil Knight shook hands on a deal that helped elevate their respective brands. That 30-year legacy became the latest casualty of upheaval across college football this week when it was announced Penn State is ending its long connection with Nike to become an Adidas school. The guys give their initial reactions before moving on to discuss the week that was in college football and what's next for Penn State after sending Nevada (Wolf) packing.
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
Once again Chris is joined by fellow LION 90.7fm alum Mike Levine, to analyze the Nittany Lions roster, this time turning to the defense. James Franklin poached Jim Knowles, who many consider to be the sharpest defensive mind in the modern game, away from national champion Ohio State only days after the confetti fell on the Buckeyes, making Knowles the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football, dealing a blow to the program Penn State's struggled to surpass, and putting the sport on notice that Old State is coming for it all. What kind of squad does our new $3 million man inherit? Mostly what you'd expect from a Nittany Lions defense: fast, tenacious, athletic, and balancing proven talent with promising potential. The raw material is there to be molded into the type of unit that can help Franklin's highest profile hire earn a ring for a second straight season.
HOSTED BY: Chris Buchignani
GUESTS: Mike Levine
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
Per Obligatory tradition, one of our most popular features returns: the Penn State football preview in which Chris enlists the assistance of fellow LION 90.7fm alum Mike Levine, to analyze the Nittany Lions roster in two installments, beginning with the offense. As undergrads, they brought their half-dozen listeners such unforgettable gems as Joe Paterno's record-breaking 324th career win versus Ohio State and such forgettable disappointments as most other games in the 2001 season. Now they unpack the offensive talent set to take the field this season.
Last year, this episode's description read: "New offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is charged with coaxing more productivity and explosivity from an offense that faltered in the biggest moments last season. Can a supporting cast of promising offensive lineman, talented tight ends, and excellent running backs help lift up a blue-chip quarterback dogged by skeptics and a group of receivers with a lot to prove?"
Let's just make a few edits here...
Returning offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is charged with coaxing more productivity and explosivity from an offense that faltered in the biggest moment last season. Can a supporting cast of proven offensive lineman, talented tight ends, and excellent running backs help lift up a blue-chip quarterback dogged by skeptics and a new group of receivers with a lot to prove?
There. Perfect. Grab your pencil and your paper.
HOSTED BY: Chris Buchignani
GUESTS: Mike Levine
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
As if the excitement and national hype - and the attendant dread and pressure that accompany them - couldn't get any more intense, Penn State made its AP preseason poll debut at #2, receiving only a handful fewer first-place votes than top-ranked Texas. State's dizzying perch near the top of the charts is the topic of conversation, but not without a characteristic diversion, this time in the form an opening monologue from our most beloved (and most reviled) cast member. Come for Kevin Horne's defiant confessional. Stay for a special guest appearance from Let's Talk Penn State co-host Steve Garguilo who helps the gang unpack the excitement-to-dread ratio for long-suffering, long-time Penn State fans headed into a season bursting at the seams with equal parts promise and peril.
HOSTED BY: Mike "The Mailman" Herr, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani
GUEST: Steve Garguilo
Enjoy the lighter side of every Penn State season with the guys at Let's Talk Penn State: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-talk-penn-state/id1305484061
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
There's no denying it: Excitement is in the air in Happy Valley. Autumn's arrival always brings the energy of students returning to campus and the anticipation of another Penn State football season, but the attention and enthusiasm swirling around this year's version of the Nittany Lions is something special. With Penn State debuting at #3 in the Coaches Poll and a litany of national talking heads naming James Franklin's squad as the team to beat for the national title, the preseason hype has been cranked up to 11 for the first time since the salad days of the Paterno era. With this backdrop, Chris and Mailman talk about their trip to Football Media Day and discuss with Kevin the pros and cons of intense scrutiny like State hasn't seen since junior linebacker LaVar Arrington's turn on the cover of Sports Illustrated's 1999 season preview mag.
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
Welcome the podcast's Fall 2025 sponsor: Gold Hen *Use promo code MAILMAN at checkout
The roster has never been deeper or more talented. The vibes have never been more positive. According to James Franklin, the alignment with administration and support from boosters has never been better. In Franklin's tenure, entering its 12th year, the expectations have never been greater, and that means the stakes have never been higher. So with all these top talents returning to Penn State for one final run and the national spotlight shining brightly on Happy Valley, does the elevated hype mean a higher standard for success this Fall? As we enter the final stretch of an offseason full of "championship or bust" talk, the guys kick off the new podcast season discussing how they define "success" for the 2025 Nittany Lions.
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
As with our Fall roster breakdowns, Chris enlists the assistance of fellow LION 90.7fm alum, former FIU and Miami Hurricanes broadcaster Mike Levine, to analyze the Nittany Lions' current complement of talent as Spring football comes to a close and yet another "transfer portal window" lurches toward merciful closure. With a lengthy list of returning stars, much is certain about the title-contending squad State will field in the Fall, and yet a surprising number of questions abound. Heading into Blue-White weekend, we detail the pitched position battles and critical depth chart decisions that will shape the destiny of the 2025 Nittany Lions (in probably far greater detail than listeners of this podcast need or want). Enjoy!
HOSTED BY: Chris Buchignani
GUESTS: Mike Levine
Grab your pencil and your paper. We take one last, lingering look back at 2024, in all its glory and heartbreak, before turning our attention to a new season brimming with promise, as another Blue-White weekend ushers in a Summer of hope.
HOSTED BY: Brandon Noble, Mike "The Mailman" Herr, Kevin Horne, Chris Buchignani
BREAKING NEWS, BONUS CONTENT!
James Franklin and Pat Kraft swung for the fences and made contact. Chris and Brandon give their snap reactions to Penn State's tectonic move to break the bank and poach Jim Knowles from the defending champion Ohio State Buckeyes to becomes the new Nittany Lions defensive coordinator.
Full podcast to follow soon.
Watch on For The Blogy's YouTube: https://youtu.be/wV9IJF-IWhU?si=DtiVHV7bd6nkjcSh
HOSTED BY: Brandon Noble, Chris Buchignani