Beaver Stadium

History

Predecessors

Until 1893, Penn State teams participated in sporting events on Old Main lawn, a large grassy area in front of the primary classroom building of the time. Beaver Field, a 500-seat structure located behind the current site of the Osmond Building, was the first permanent home for Penn State's football team, and the first game played there was a Penn State victory over Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh) on November 6, 1893. In 1909, New Beaver Field opened just northeast of Rec Hall, roughly in the current location of the Nittany Parking deck. It served as Penn State's stadium until 1959. During the 1959-60 offseason, the entire 30,000 seat facility was dismantled and moved half a mile to the east end of campus. It was then reassembled, bolted onto a modern upper grandstand, and named Beaver Stadium. The "new" stadium seated 46,284 people; it roughly corresponds to the lower level of the current facility.

Expansions

The stadium has been expanded six times, reflecting Penn State's rise to national prominence under Joe Paterno, then the team's head coach, more than doubling in size in the process. Expansions in 1972 brought capacity to 57,538. Another expansion in 1976 increased capacity to 60,203. In 1978, 16,000 seats were added when the stadium was cut into sections and raised on hydraulic lifts, allowing the insertion of seating along the inner ring of the stadium where the track had previously been located, raising capacity to 76,639. This expansion is particularly noticeable, as there's a distinct color change when crossing from the original, New Beaver Field steel grandstands onto the newer, stone and concrete additions. In 1980, maximum capacity increased to 83,770.

Beaver Stadium hosted its first night football game on September 25, 1982, when Penn State played the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. While the game was scheduled for a 3:45 p.m. kickoff, CBS anticipated the contest would conclude after sunset and contracted Musco Lighting to provide temporary portable lights for the broadcast. The Nittany Lions won the game 27–24, a victory that proved pivotal in the program's first national championship season. The game is particularly noted for a controversial 15-yard sideline completion from Todd Blackledge to tight end Mike McCloskey during the final minute; despite replays suggesting McCloskey had stepped out of bounds before the catch, the play stood and set up the winning touchdown. Permanent lighting was not installed at the stadium until 1984.

In 1985, walkways were added around the tops of the end zones and entry ramps at the stadium's corners resulted in lowering the capacity to 83,370. An expansion was completed for the 1991 football season, placing an upper deck addition over the north end zone and raising capacity to 93,967.

A major and somewhat controversial construction project took place in 2001, raising the stadium's total capacity to 107,282. An upper deck was added to the south end of the stadium, blocking the view of neighboring Mount Nittany (which had sentimental value for some fans), but making Beaver Stadium the second-largest stadium in the nation, behind Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

In 2006, the stadium underwent major structural and aesthetic upgrades. Old steel beams supporting the upper seats in the east, north and west were replaced and strengthened, and new railing was installed, stronger than the old railing which collapsed following the 2005 Ohio State game.

Attendance records

A record crowd of 111,030 witnessed Penn State's 20–13 loss to Ohio State, on November 2, 2024.

In 2002, Penn State set an NCAA record for most fans to ever watch a college football team over the course of a single season at home. Beaver Stadium hosted 8 games in 2002, and averaged 107,239 per game totaling what was at the time an NCAA record of 857,911 in total home attendance. Penn State averaged 95,977 fans in attendance both home and away over the 13 game schedule which broke the all time full season attendance NCAA record at 1,247,707 spectators over the course of the 2002 campaign.

Traditions

Chants

"WE ARE!"..."PENN STATE!" is perhaps the most well-known chant across campus; "We Are Penn State" conveys the university's sense of unity and school pride. At Beaver Stadium, the chant is often relayed across the stadium in a "WE ARE!"..."PENN STATE!". Penn State call and response, with each side of the grandstand chanting one half of the motto. This is typically followed by a similar "THANK YOU!"..."YOU'RE WELCOME!" chant. It is also featured in Penn State's White Out games, which use Zombie Nation's Kernkraft 400 as the fight song instead of Fight On, State.

"Let's Go, P-S-U" - A more recently started chant which plays during a performance of The Hey Song by the Penn State Blue Band prior to every game.

Tailgating

Tailgating is very popular outside Beaver Stadium. Alcohol is permitted in all areas around Beaver Stadium and is sold inside the stadium on home football games, as of 2022. In August 2019, Penn State was ranked #15 by tailgater magazine for the "tailgate culture" that surrounds Beaver Stadium on gameday. The magazine stated that "win or lose, the university offers an incredible tailgate environment" for over 100,000 fans, referencing traditions related to Penn State football such as camping outside Beaver Stadium for Nittanyville to making ice cream stops at the Berkey Creamery.

Student section "S-Zone"

The "S-Zone" within the student section is another tradition at Beaver Stadium. A small section behind the end zone are all given white and blue shirts supplied by the Pennsylvania State University Lion Ambassadors to create an "S" in the student section. The "S-Zone" was moved from the 20 yard line to its current location at the beginning of the 2011 football season, as the student section was shifted over to between the 10 yard lines. For the 2008, 2011, 2013, 2018, and 2023 Homecoming Games, the "S-Zone" was black and pink, in honor of the original Penn State colors. On April 21, 2007, for the Annual Blue and White Game (Spring Scrimmage), the "S-Zone" was converted to a "VT-Zone", in honor of the victims of the massacre that took place on April 16, 2007, at Virginia Tech.

Nittanyville

Starting with the October 2005 game against Ohio State, students have camped out outside Gate A to obtain good seats for home games; "Nittanyville" is a recognized university club with rules of conduct. It was originally known as "Paternoville". During whiteout games, a special week-long camping starts on Monday instead of the usual Wednesday or Thursday.

White Out games

After failed experiments with "Code Blue" during the down year of 2004, a localized version of the "Winnipeg White Out" made national headlines during the 2005 game versus Ohio State. In this game, despite 40 °F (4 °C) temperatures and a misty rain, nearly every student, along with many other fans, wore a white shirt to the game, creating a sea of white. This was deemed a success, as the student section was declared "The best in the country." by ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, and the Nittany Lions won the game in an intense defensive battle, 17–10. The student section was widely credited with aiding the defense, which kept the Buckeyes' future Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Troy Smith, in check by intercepting a pass and recovering a decisive fumble in the final minutes. Smith was forced to call several timeouts during the game due to inability to communicate with his offense on the field.

In 2007, for the Notre Dame game, a full-stadium "White House" was declared. While it is widely believed that this change was a result of the National Hockey League's Phoenix Coyotes notifying the university that the phrase "White Out" was trademarked by the franchise during their time as the Winnipeg Jets, the "White House" moniker was invented to remind the crowd that everyone, and not just the student section, was to wear white. The newly christened "White House" was also deemed a success, as nearly every Penn State fan in attendance wore white, and the Lions won, 31–10. In 2008, the "White House" was met with similar success, a 38–24 win over Illinois. From 2012 to 2019, the full-stadium "White Out" games have been against either Ohio State or Michigan. In 2021, the first Southeastern Conference (SEC) team, the Auburn Tigers played during the "White Out", the Nittany Lions won 28–20.

Zombie Nation

Zombie Nation is a tradition that was started during the 2004 football season. After the Nittany Lions make a big play, (typically on defense) the stadium blasts the song "Kernkraft 400" by Zombie Nation which ignites 107,000 into a frenzied blur all bouncing up and down in unison, waving towels and shakers wildly chanting "WE ARE PENN STATE!" during the break in the melody of the song. The tradition gained national attention in 2005, after Penn State's 17–10 victory over Ohio State, which at the time, delivered the second highest audience for a regular season college football game ever on ESPN. Zombie Nation along with the "Penn State Whiteout", have been direct influencers of Beaver Stadium being home to what many consider the best student section in college football. Since the tradition began, both Zombie Nation and the "Whiteout" have since spread to encompass the entire stadium.

Tunnel entrance

The tunnel entrance is a Nittany Lions tradition in which the head coach leads the team from the locker room under the South side of the stadium to the tunnel to a closed metal gate reading "PENN STATE" in bold Arial font. When the team arrives at the gate, the Nittany Lion opens the gate and motions for the team to walk through it, as if welcoming the team to the field. The team then lingers until four minutes are left on the pregame clock, and then the head coach leads the team through the tunnel created by the Blue Band.

Fast and slow wave

The Penn State Student Section initiates a wave during sporting events. After the wave passes around the stadium twice, the student section slows down the wave to about a fourth the speed of the normal wave. After the slow wave passes, the wave speeds up to over twice the speed of the normal wave. The wave has, on occasion, been reversed in direction following the fast wave.

Blue Band traditions

After the Penn State Blue Band has entered the field and played the first eight bars of "The Nittany Lion", the Blue Bands Drum Major does a high-stepping, stiff-legged sprint in between rows of band members from the goal line to the 50 yard line, where they do a front flip. Legend states that if the drum major lands the flip, the team will win that afternoon. They then perform another flip while running towards the end zone. After they stand back up, they and the Nittany Lion, who is holding the baton, take five high-steps toward each other, meeting 5 yards deep in the end zone. The Lion and Drum Major both place both hands on the baton in alternating order (in the same manner children choosing teams with a baseball bat would) and then throw the baton onto the ground. They then salute each other, embrace arms, and then both excitedly run towards the student section, where they are cheered enthusiastically.

The Blue Band performs "The Nittany Lion" and makes its way from its "PSU" formation to roll into spelling "LIONS" as it marches across the field. Once reaching the other side, the band reverses the "LIONS" to be readable to the east side of the stadium, while playing "Fight On, State". This is known as the "trademark drill" of the Blue Band.