I'm religious and a man of deep faith, so I don't want to criticize or overanalyze anyone answering a call, but man the timing of this interesting - and I think that's where most people are at right now - regardless of their view on faith.
Were these guys enrolled at PSU during this fall semester? If so, then I feel like the clock should be ticking since half the season takes place during the first semester. I get that missions will never line up perfectly with classes and athletics, but I also feel it's gaming the system. We're over a month into official team practices and 2 weeks into formal competition and just now this is being kicked into gear? Okay.
Lastly, I have two big questions that I think are valid:
1. Were they going to start and decided to answer the call anyways?
2. Was it their idea or was it presented to them from the coaching staff?
Personally, I think questions #2 is the bigger and more important question, but unfortunately we'll never get an answer to that.