Two plays after a terrible questionable pass interference call against the Nittany Lions when we played Northwestern earlier this season, a Penn State player in the secondary went down with an injury (it ended up only being a stinger), which allowed Bill O’Brien to bypass a rule that keeps coaches on the sideline during the game. O’Brien walked onto the field to tend to his injured player, making a pit stop by the referees to let them know what he thought about the penalty two plays earlier (he didn’t like it).
Do you know what impact this had on the referees? Probably not much. But do you know what impact this had on the alumni fans in the north end-zone where this was taking place? They started to go nuts, making noise in support of Bill O’Brien. Then Northwestern players started taunting the Penn State fans, which made them even louder! For the few remaining minutes of the first half, the alumni north of the 50-yard-line produced about as much noise as I have ever heard them make.
Which means that this week, there is no excuse.
Now that we are aware of how much noise you alumni can make, there is no excuse for students – who only take up about 20% of the stadium – to be responsible for 80% of the noise. There is no excuse for alumni to only be making noise on third down, and there is no excuse for anybody in the stadium to have a voice on Sunday morning.
This writing is not meant to belittle our beloved alumni in any way. You came before us, and you are part of One Team; part of We Are.
And We Are in need of one of the loudest crowds in Penn State history this weekend when the Ohio State Buckeyes come to town. With this in mind, the students will be in the game early and ready to make as much noise as possible on first, second, third and fourth down. Please, alumni, join us. The volume in the stadium multiplies with each additional voice. Without you, we are only 22,000 crazy screaming fans. But with you We Are over 100,000 voices strong, making Beaver Stadium the loudest venue in the country.
So this is my plea to non-students visiting Penn State this weekend. Come prepared to make more noise than you ever have before. If you know your voice will not make it long, be prepared to purchase a few bottled waters in the stadium. If you are not strong enough to stand the entire game, continue to yell and make noise while sitting down. Be prepared to continue yelling when Ohio State goes into their no-huddle offense, and be prepared to start clapping when your voice runs out. Beaver Stadium is usually loud, but it cannot reach its full potential without each and every one of you.
This is my plea. That all students and alumni help make Beaver Stadium louder this Saturday than it has ever been before.
Will you answer the call?
Related: Dear Students, a note for Saturday’s game
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