Penn State football Saturdays are unrivaled—not to be cheesy. I have been coming to games since I was in diapers and was actually potty-trained at a tailgate in ’99. Eighteen years later, the games still have that same excitement effect as if every game is my first one. There is nothing like over 100,000 fans coming from campus, downtown, State College neighborhoods, other cities, and even across the world to cheer on the Nittany Lions.
No matter what time the game starts, every Saturday during the season (minus bye weeks) is about football. Tailgates will start as early as the sun rises and Blue Band trumpeters will wake up students living in East with the fight song. Closer to the stadium, thousands of cars line the IM fields all the way to the RV lots with fans throwing footballs, cooking burgers, playing music, and enjoying the company of friends and family. In my 20 years of life, I have never experienced the energy and sense of camaraderie that I’ve felt in Beaver Stadium. For the record, everyone looks good in blue and white. Not every university can say that.
If you don’t have student tickets, I highly suggest that you try to make it to at least one game for the experience. Even if football isn’t your favorite sport, the world class Blue Band will blow you away, and the chicken baskets will become one of your new favorite meals.
For the super fans like myself, you can take gamedays to a new level:
S Zone: The S Zone is the part of the student section sponsored by the Lion Ambassadors and the Alumni Association. Before kickoff, “Lambs” from the student organization will handout L/XL S Zone t-shirts to those in specific rows. The end result is a giant S in the center of the student section. Not only do you get a free shirt out of the game, you get to surround yourself with some of the most dedicated student fans. I have so many at this point, and I’m hoping to combine all of mine into a large blanket after graduation. To get into the S Zone, you typically have to arrive an hour and a half before the game, and you enter through the leftmost ticket booth at Gate A.
Nittanyville: A long standing tradition at Penn State is to camp out before gamedays. Other than traveling to away games, this is most intense level of fandom. To qualify, you sign up the Wednesday before the game. It’s best to have a group of up to 10 other students, but you can also join another existing group if you can’t personally convince anyone to join you in the experience. Once the group is registered, members camp out the Thursday and Friday nights before the game in tents in front of Gate A. Students still go to classes on those days, but the gameday excitement starts earlier for the campers. On Saturday, special wristbands are distributed among the campers which allows those students to have a guaranteed spot in the first row of the student section. Campers also make festive banners to hang over the railing and sometimes get to meet the players as well as Coach Franklin.
Get excited!!! Football season is around the corner!!!
By: Casey Mrazik
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