College football is out of control.

Like the Blob from the 1958 film, it has grown larger and larger, feeding on huge TV contracts, apparel deals, merchandise sales and expensive tickets.

But the Penn State abuse case in which Jerry Sandusky is accused of abusing eight children over 15 years shows that there are worse consequences. When a football program becomes like Penn State, with the big checks rolling in, few want — or can — stop it. Why get in the way of the gravy train?

There’s no doubt Penn State coach Joe Paterno was the most powerful man in Happy Valley. His successes on the gridiron — and millions of dollars in donations — over 46 years helped increase the school’s reputation and enrollment.

But, when it mattered the most, too many were afraid to throw sand in the gears of the great, money-making machine. When a coach can tell his bosses, who wanted him to retire in 2004, that he’s not going anywhere, he’s too powerful.

It’s a symptom of chaos. College football was once a pleasant diversion. Now, it’s an obsession.

The fans’ lust to win at all costs, to be No. 1, consumes everything else of substance in their lives. They pay big bucks for the team logo Snuggie, bigger bucks for the endowment to the university to give you the privilege of purchasing tickets and even bigger bucks just to buy the season tickets so high in the nosebleed section that oxygen masks are required.

Harvey Updyke, the disgraced Alabama fan accused of poisoning the oaks at Auburn’s Toomer’s Corner, is the embodiment of this obsessive fan. Too much of anything is never good.

Coaches who once made a comfortable living are now making a killing. Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen got a $1 million raise and is now making $2.5 million per season. Houston Nutt will get $6 million for the next five years to leave Ole Miss. The average coaching salary now is $1.47 million, more than most university presidents.

The NCAA has tried to stem the tide and put more of the student back in student-athlete. The standard for the Academic Progress Rate, which measures graduation rates and academic performance for sports teams, was raised from 900 to 930. Scholarships can now be given in four-year guarantees, rather than the year-to-year affairs.

But, in the end, the only teams that will be hurt are smaller schools with limited resources. The powerhouses of the college football world will work around these difficulties. They’ll have the money to hire more academic support staff for the football team. They’ll be able to deal better with a four-year scholarship given to a player who doesn’t live up to the high school hype.

The strange thing is that things are not rosy everywhere. Several smaller schools lost money at bowl games. Only 14 out of the 120 Division I athletic programs turned a profit.

This madness can’t go on forever. Or can it? After all, it’s just a game. Except when millions are involved.

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Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. You can follow him on Twitter at vpsportseditor. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, ext. 142 or at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.