STATE COLLEGE - Penn State has got to be used to this feeling by now.
The Nittany Lions have lost five games since the start of the 2012 season. They had a legitimate chance to win four of those games. They were within a field goal of the lead in the second half of all of them. These were all tough losses, just like the 34-31 defeat they absorbed Saturday to Central Florida in Beaver Stadium.
"You can't give up, no matter what the scoreboard says," defensive tackle DaQuan Jones said. "No matter how many you're down, you can always come back. And a lot can happen - momentum plays, stuff like that. For the young guys, they have to learn there's never a reason to give up. There's always a chance to win games."
With just a handful of senior starters on both sides of the ball, the young Nittany Lions learned their first lesson on disappointment - and, as Jones pointed out, the benefit of tenacity - in 2013.
Their veteran teammates who have been through it from time to time hope their younger players learn the same lessons from defeat they have in the past.
"You learn from the losses just like you learn from the wins," guard John Urschel said. "If anything, you learn more from the losses. You watch the film that much harder. You focus on the details and the little things in the game."
The details, those little things, were what separated the Nittany Lions from victory Saturday night.
On defense, missed tackles and blown coverages helped Central Florida throw for 288 yards.
The vaunted Penn State pass rush didn't so much as dirty quarterback Blake Bortles' uniform, despite facing a relatively inexperienced Knights offensive line.
On offense, the Nittany Lions scored 31 points and kept the team in the game, but a fourth-quarter fumble by Zach Zwinak stripped them of their final chance to take the lead.
They also continued to struggle converting third downs, failing to do so on any of their five chances in the first half.
"We've got to be better," quarterback Christian Hackenberg said. "We made a lot of mental mistakes. UCF did a great job, but we've got to get better."
That seemed to be a theme after the game.
But as Urschel pointed out, tough losses have a way of making teams better over the long haul.
Young in plenty of key areas, the Nittany Lions were outclassed by a group of tough, grizzled Central Florida veterans who simply knew how to play the game better than they did - a lesson they needed to learn.
"They came out here with a game plan, and they were good," linebacker Nyeem Wartman said. "We didn't execute well. We just have to improve going into next week."
Saturday brings Kent State, which is 1-2 and coming off a 45-13 loss at LSU on Saturday.
All Penn State is hoping is that, from the bitter feelings of a hard-fought game that didn't go its way, it can somehow take away something that will help it get on the right track soon.
"You take the only thing you can," Urschel said. "You go in on Sunday and Monday, you look at the film, and you see what you did well. Then, most importantly, you see what you did poorly. Then you work to improve, and after you watch the film, you don't dwell on it."