25 best college football fan atmospheres
By Nick Villano
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
It’s Happy Valley. It’s hard to explain just how important game day is to Penn State University, but it’s exhilarating.
It all starts the night before a home game. Student tickets are given out day of, so students are camping outside the stadium on Friday night to have the best chance at tickets the next day. Camping out on an autumn Pennsylvania night actually sounds wonderful. It turns into the pre-tailgate tailgate. The students get creative to pass the time, and the party continues right through kickoff.
Penn State is the only team that predicts the success of the team by the athletic ability of the marching band. Before each game, a drum major is asked to do a flip. If he hits it, the tradition goes that the team will win. The crowd goes wild when the flip is successful.
Penn State walks out arm in arm. Running in lockstep, the team brings a ton of energy right before game time. It sounds dangerous, but that’s part of the fun of it. It’s like football’s version of a trust fall.
If you’re going to one Penn State game, it has to be the White Out. The entire stadium dresses in white, and it’s one of the most visually appealing stadium experiences in college football. Other teams have their own version, but white just really comes off great on the aerial shots, and it seems like the crowd is extra rowdy for the White Out game.
The stadium starts rocking with “We Are” and “Penn State”. It’s one of the most recognizable chants in college football.