29 August 2010 ~ 0 Comments

THIS OLD HOUSE

THIS OLD HOUSE

Now in its 50th year, PSU’s iconic home, Beaver Stadium, has stood the test of time

Joe Paterno has made some pretty good calls over the years. Sure, you can quibble with a draw play here or an off-tackle there or Guman up the middle on fourth-and-goal in the You-Know-What Bowl. But the man has 394 major-college victories in his career, which is 394 more than the rest of us do. Continue Reading

29 August 2010 ~ 0 Comments

Rally in the Valley

Rally in the Valley

New coach Eric Wolford looks to put the Penguins back on top of their conference

Eric Wolford cut his teeth as a coach by working under some of the best coaches and for some of the best programs in college football. Now he’s using that experience for his biggest challenge. Continue Reading

29 August 2010 ~ 0 Comments

All the Right Moves

All the Right Moves

A shrewd plan, decades in the making, gave the Nittany Lion football program room to grow

In late March of 1959, as Penn State’s 14,600-plus students were streaming out of town for their annual spring break and the football team was about to start spring practice, a small battalion of bulldozers, steam shovels, grading machines and other heavy construction equipment began clearing a 60-acre cow pasture on the far eastern fringe of campus. No one realized at the time that the site would one day be an American landmark – the second-largest football facility in the country – and the home of a record-breaking, legendary coach. Continue Reading

29 August 2010 ~ 0 Comments

The Sound and the Fury

The Sound and the Fury

Penn State’s rowdy home can be inhospitable to opponents, but they wouldn’t have it any other way

Sure, it’s an impressive thing to behold, thousands of T-shirts arrayed in a vast expanse of white that arises from the perimeter of the field and swirls upward and outward, deep into the night, part blizzard, part hurricane. But you can see white T-shirts at Walmart. What impressed Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi the most when he emerged from a tunnel underneath the northwest stands of Beaver Stadium and stepped into middle of one Penn State’s famed White Outs last September was not the sight of it but the sound. Continue Reading

29 August 2010 ~ 0 Comments

Home Field Advantage

Home Field Advantage

Penn State’s turf management team has helped make Beaver Stadium a natural wonder

When fans ask Bob Hudzik, Penn State’s director of outdoor facilities, for access to the field at Beaver Stadium, it’s usually for one of two purposes. Continue Reading

29 August 2010 ~ 0 Comments

Projects show stadium still has room to grow

Gate A entrance is latest upgrade; concessions, restrooms next in line

Paternoville finally got some furniture.

In fact, the renovations made to the student section’s Gate A at Beaver Stadium this summer have made the place downright cozy. Continue Reading

29 August 2010 ~ 0 Comments

Something Old, Something New

Something Old, Something New

Penn State begins its latest title defense with an overhauled roster and a familiar ranking

Russ Rose does not understand his team’s No. 1 preseason ranking. This despite the fact that the Nittany Lions have won the past three national championships and 102 consecutive matches – the second-longest streak in NCAA history. Continue Reading

29 August 2010 ~ 0 Comments

There’s no place like home

There’s no place like home

When you look out at Beaver Stadium – and its mammoth scoreboard can be seen from North Atherton Street, East College Avenue, Route 322 and possibly from orbit – it’s hard to imagine that it was ever just another football field. With its 107,282 seats and skyscraping upper tiers, Penn State’s home these days is the opposite of ordinary, a stadium so brawny and muscular that it seems to have scared most of the other buildings on campus away. Continue Reading