Penn State Football Fans at Nittanyville Long for a Field-Storming vs. USC

Penn State students haven't rushed the field at Beaver Stadium in 10 years and want another chance.

A view of the tents at Nittanyville, where Penn State students camp out for Nittany Lions football games at Beaver Stadium. | Will Horstman | Penn State on SI

STATE COLLEGE | Penn State is on a two-game losing streak, but that hasn’t stopped more than 200 students from gathering at Beaver Stadium’s Gate A ahead of the White Out game Saturday against USC.

Nittanyville, the student-run tent city that assembles for every home game, started its campout on Tuesday. Even though the Penn State football team hasn’t reached its expectations yet this season, the residents of Nittanyville remain optimistic. In fact, they want to participate in the on-field celebration if the Nittany Lions beat No. 19 USC. 

“I'm kind of still hopeful for a lot of things, and I think that is kind of a fault in the way that I think about sports sometimes,” Nittanyville President Aaron Klein said. “I don't think there's a reason to necessarily completely get away from the season already when we're not even halfway through yet.”

Penn State’s offensive line delivered pizza to Nittanyville on Thursday night, when there were more than 10 tents outside of Gate A and its sign,”The Best Student Section in the Country, By Far.” Klein said about 227 people signed up to camp at Nittanyville this week, a higher number than he expected after two losses.

Yet participation is still down from the average of about 350 campers for a White Out week in recent seasons, Klein said. NIttanyville was that packed last year ahead of the Penn State-Oregon White Out game.

But faith persists this week.

“We obviously have a big chance with the White Out game to completely turn this season around,” Klein said.

‘I still have faith’

Penn State Nittany Lions offensive linemen deliver pizza to students camping out at Nittanyville ahead of Saturday's game vs. USC. | Will Horstman | Penn State on SI

Penn State has dropped back-to-back games to begin Big Ten play for the second straight season. The Nittany Lions  lost a 17-0 lead against Wisconsin, which rallied for a 24-20 win, before getting blown out by Northwestern 34-13 last week.

But Nittanyville members are still showing up. Klein called the White Out “most eventful week” of the season and a “bucket-list week” for those involved.

“Obviously, it's a little bit disappointing, but I also understand football,” Nittanyville member Nik Inwood said. “It's a rebuild year with a new coach, new team. I’ve got a lot of hope, especially going into the rest of the season.”

Klein believes fans have to give Penn State some “grace” this season, head coach Matt Campbell’s first with the program. After James Franklin was fired last October, prompting a 54-day search that led to Campbell's hiring, Inwood pointed out that Campbell “didn’t really get a chance” to fully acclimate to Penn State.

With that belief in the Nittany Lions, Klein said the energy is still high for Nittanyville. On Thursday night, students ran a relay race with the offensive line that included building a tent, blowing up an air mattress, tossing a cornhole bag into its board and throwing a football into a trash bin from about 20 yards away. Right guard Cooper Cousins made the winning shot.

During Penn State’s last home game Sept. 26 against Wisconsin, there were visibly empty areas of the student section in Beaver Stadium. Klein said that was “a little disappointing” but believes the White Out will attract a better turnout. 

“I was very disappointed after Wisconsin and after Northwestern.” Nittanyville member Charlie Patterson said. “I was front row at Wisconsin, and we made a whole Wisconsin banner, and so that's kind of useless now because we lost them. I still have faith. I believe we will win the White Out, and I believe we will beat Michigan.”

Nittanyville wants to rush the field

Penn State fans haven’t rushed the field at Beaver Stadium since the team’s 2016 upset of No. 2 Ohio State. That also was the last White Out game for which Penn State was unranked.

The Nittany Lions are unranked in both major polls ahead of their matchup with No. 19 USC, and members of Nittanyville want to storm the field if Penn State wins.

“I think so,” Patterson said when asked if storming the field is a popular opinion. “I think that at least me and all my friends, we have come to the decision that if we win, we would try to rush the field.”

During the Wisconsin game, Klein said he overheard on-field security guards saying that they would let fans rush the field if Penn State won. Klein said he expects security guards to do the same if fans choose to rush the field after the USC game.

The Trojans might not be highly ranked, and Klein said he didn’t want Penn State fans to look like the Michigan fans who they rushed the field after defeating Western Michigan earlier this year. But Klein and other Penn State fans feel overdue for a field-storming.

“I think there has been a lot of conversation and energy about almost getting our field rush for the last few years,” Klein said. “It's obviously a super unique college experience. I've rushed the court at basketball a few times. It's been awesome, but everyone wants to be able to rush the field for football.”

A view of the tents at Nittanyville, where Penn State students camp out for Nittany Lions football games at Beaver Stadium. | Will Horstman | Penn State on SI

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