Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1390373
ow dispiriting was Penn State's 2020 football season? So dispir- iting that as James Franklin led the Nittany Lions through a succession of empty stadiums, including their own, he found himself feeling nostalgic for even the lousy parts of previous seasons. Do you ever reminisce about those times when you were badgered by the fans of a rival team? Ever want to relive those moments when you were sur- rounded by a sea of hostile faces as you pulled into the parking lot of a Big Ten venue that wasn't Beaver Stadium? Yeah, me neither. But to Franklin – who, it must be said, has a police escort – those encounters are emblematic of the passion that college football evokes. That passion was stripped away last season by the pandemic – or at least driven underground – and while every- one was grateful to be playing, it was impossible to shake the feeling that something vital was missing. "You would literally pull up to the Big House and there's not a car in the park- ing lot," Franklin recalled recently. "There's nobody in the stands except for cardboard cutouts. Me and Monica – the police officer who works with us – would walk around the stadium [before the game] and it's crickets in there. It was bizarre. You would pull up to Rut- gers and nobody is giving you the finger or mooning you. "I mean that from a place of love. I miss that. I missed people screaming H HOUSE CALL Penn State players take the field at Michi- gan Stadium last season. Jesse Luketa (40), Jonathan Suther- land (0) and Ellis Brooks (13) are all back from that team, which de- feated the Wolver- ines, 27-17. Photo by Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics