Penn State football opponents describe atmosphere at Beaver Stadium

Penn State football’s home at Beaver Stadium has proven to be a harsh environment in the past. Today, the situation still stands.

There’s something about a college football stadium’s vibe that’s just completely different to everything else. Obviously, there’s a much larger number of fans in select stadiums compared to the pros. And thanks to school spirit, fans tend to get a little bit crazier during game action. For Penn State football, they get to play in a legendary place such as Beaver Stadium.

Despite what many say about the Nittany Lions as a team, not many people can deny the fact that the fans show up and show out on game day — especially for a White Out. We know the fan experience itself is crazy — but how is the experience for an opponent coming to Happy Valley for a battle against the Lions? Recently, Centre Daily Times’ Josh Moyer caught up with a few Big Ten opponents in Chicago to ask about the experience for the opposition.

The Big Ten is a competitive conference, so you likely won’t hear too much praise for other teams from competing players. However, talking about a stadium atmosphere and what the fans bring doesn’t seem like much of a crime for players to do. And as expected, the questioned candidates from within the Big Ten pretty much had nothing but good things to say about Beaver Stadium.

Pulling a few quotes:

“The fan base, they bring it. They were loud, and they do that ‘White Out’ and it’s a big stadium — just the whole atmosphere. It was a good game, and it was a good stadium,” says Iowa running back, Toren Young. The White Out game is an extremely popular event on the schedule every year, and the outcome from it never fails to impress spectators and the competition.

“I like playing there. I’m excited to play there this year. And it’s beautiful. When we ran out of that tunnel — I think it might’ve been a ‘White Out’ when we played them. Just all the fans; it was a full stadium, and that’s what really stood out to me. How full that stadium was.”

Indiana linebacker Raekwon Jones didn’t actually play in a White Out game, but it seems as though the crowd made it one as there was a sea of white shirts throughout the crowd for the PSU vs. Indiana game recently. This year, Beaver Stadium will once again be one of the toughest stadiums not only in the Big Ten but in college football as a whole.

247 Sports’ Brad Crawford recently explained precisely how tough the stadium is when ranking the toughest stadiums within the conference. “Beaver Stadium transforms into an opponent-eating entity with crowd volume reaching NASCAR decibel levels,” Crawford described, “All you hear as an opposing player is deafening noise coming from behind and just ahead of you, unsure exactly how many fans want you to make a mistake.”