Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1026347
In the locker room following the game, Lewis presented three game balls, one each to the school's president, athletic director and associate AD. He intended them as a show of gratitude for putting him in the position in the first place. Said Lewis, "I turned around and gave the game balls to them to thank them for believing in our vi- sion and being able to take a chance and roll the dice on a young guy like myself." Lewis, 32, is the youngest head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and he has Kent State at 1-1 heading into Saturday's matchup against Penn State in Beaver Sta- dium. It's been a promising start, and it could have been even better. In their season opener at Illinois, the Golden Flashes held a 17-3 halftime lead before Illini rallied for a 31-24 victory. On the heels of that loss, in which Illinois outscored Kent State 28-7 in the second half, Lewis went back to practice feeling hopeful that his team would be able to find the positives and build on them against Howard. As the final score indicated, they were able to do that. And now with a vic- tory under their belt, the Flashes are aim- ing to maintain their momentum through- out the upcoming week. "At the end of the day, if we're preparing the right way and we're treating practice like a game, we're big believers that our practice repetitions become our game re- ality," Lewis said earlier this week. "It doesn't matter if [Kent State is practicing on] our grass practice field on a Tuesday in between the white lines and there's no one watching them, or if there happen to be 110,000 people watching in Happy Valley. Rain has overwhelmed the State Col- lege area the past several days. There has been precipitation each of the past five days, and several more days of rain are expected leading up to Penn State's game against Kent State on Sat- urday. The weather has been so wet that university officials have already decided to close a number of parking lots near Beaver Stadium. According to a university press re- lease, Yellow Lot 12, Orange Preferred Car, Brown Preferred and Family Friendly lots will all be closed on Satur- day. Additionally, no further Yellow parking passes will be sold in advance of Saturday's game, nor will permits be sold on-site on game day. "Penn State is asking patrons for their patience and understanding, as this week's rainfall has left some grass lots unsuitable for parking," the release states. "Fans are strongly encouraged to carpool and avoid bringing an RV for the Kent State game (Blue and Orange lots closed to RVs)." Penn State is encouraging fans who do not have reserved parking permits for the Kent State game to consider using one of several alternate parking options. Those options include: • CATA Game Day Shuttle (catabus.com) • CATA LoopUber (drop-off and pick- up locations near stadium) • Grange Park (car and RV park-and- ride shuttle provided by Grange; car parking $10 per day, shuttle $10 round trip on Saturday; for more information, visit grangefair.com) • Parking in the East or Nittany decks on campus and walking For a map of the Kent State game day parking areas and all other game day in- formation, including traffic and parking updates, visit GoPSUsports.com/game- day. Fans can also check for parking updates by clicking on specific lots at a new in- teractive map, GoPSUs- ports.com/footballmap. RV parking is also going to be affected Saturday. Blue and Orange RV lots will be closed, with those permit holders able to park one car with the same per- mit, while Purple Lot per- mit holders are being asked to not bring an RV. The Overnight RV lot, meanwhile, will open Thursday at 6 p.m., but is subject to change based on ground conditions. S E P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 Rain forces closure of some Beaver Stadium parking lots Heavy rain during the past week has forced the university to close Yellow Lot 12, Orange Pre- ferred Car, Brown Preferred and Family Friendly lot in anticipation of Saturday's game against Kent State. Fans are asked to find alternate parking options. Photo by Annemarie Mountz