The novelty of playing football in front
of more than a handful of onlookers still
hadn't quite worn off when James
Franklin addressed reporters following
Penn State's open practice on
April 17 at Beaver Stadium.
"We announced that it was
7,500 fans or somewhere in
that ballpark," Franklin said.
"After last season, it felt like
75,000."
Last season, Penn State
played nine games in stadi-
ums that were almost entirely
empty. COVID restrictions prevented
the Nittany Lions and their Big Ten op-
ponents from welcoming their usual
massive crowds to watch them play.
The absence of fans
made this year's two
open practices a re-
freshing change for the
Nittany Lions. The
first one was open to
members of Penn
State's freshman class,
as well as the families
of players and staff,
and reporters. The second one took
place on the evening of April 23 and was
initially going to be open only to PSU
seniors, but a limited number of tickets
were later made available to the general
public. Unless they plan on staging spe-
cial practices for sophomores, juniors,
postgraduates or doctoral candidates –
an unlikely scenario given that the April
23 practice was the last of the 15 sessions
that the NCAA allows – the public won't
be seeing any more of this team for a few
months.
As one would expect given the
FACES IN THE
CROWD Penn State
welcomed about
7,500 fans for an
open practice on
April 17. The crowd
consisted mostly of
freshman students.
Photo by Mark
Selders/Penn
State Athletics
NEWS
& NOTES
F O O T B A L L
PSU relishes chance to play for audience again
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