Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1420595
1 4 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1 "State College is an oasis in the middle of Penn- sylvania. It's far from most of the major cities, but once you get on campus, it's like very few in the country. On any given Saturday, the Creamery will have a line of eager fans wrapped around the block waiting for the famous ice cream. Those fans meander through tailgates and parties to eventually arrive at the stadium, and the focus on those Saturday afternoons is all about the football team." — Tom VanHaaren, ESPN.com writer, on why State College is one of the coun- try's great college towns "It's just an insane atmosphere every time. The fans are so wild and they're so strong there on their traditions. I mean, the Stripe Out, for example, is incredible. They do such a good job showing their support." — Phil Picciotti, three-star Pennridge (Pa.) High linebacker, on his recruiting visits to Penn State for games against Auburn and Indiana "That's my guy. He's just shown from the begin- ning that he really cares. He's calling me every week to build that bond and check up with me. We talk about football, but we also talk about sports, family and just life. I remember talking to him about history and things like that. He's just really cool. Yes, he's a football coach first, but life isn't just about football, you know? So I think we have a really good bond. I've liked connecting with him on things that aren't football-related." — Four-star cornerback Lamont Payne of Bridgeville (Pa.) Chartiers Valley on assis- tant coach Terry Smith's role in his decision to commit to the Nittany Lions Sept. 18 "In my old blogging job, we once collected 43 cool Barkley highlights in one blog post, because we thought they were fun to just gawk at. It is also fun just to see Barkley looking happy. This is a man who has a great smile and will flash it to fans while eating their chicken tenders. Notice that all those things happened at Penn State, where Barkley played in college. None of them happened with the New York Giants, who took Barkley No. 2 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft." — Alex Kirshner, Slate.com writer, on Saquon Barkley's injury-plagued tenure with the New York Giants "First of all, I would ask anybody who's listening to take your Penn State hat off or take your Iowa hat off. I'm just going to talk about what I believe, from a strategy standpoint, from a common- sense perspective, from [the perspective of] what's good for college football. How does this strategy make sense against a huddle team? "People use this strategy to slow people down — spread offenses, tempo offenses. [The Hawk- eyes] huddle, so that strategy did not make sense in this situation, and in our six years of playing them, six years straight, 4-2 is our record, has that ever shown up? Has anybody seen that? In my eight years as a head coach, has that showed up at Penn State? In my 12 years as a head coach, has that showed up? It has not showed up." — James Franklin, responding to Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz's insinuation that Penn State was faking injuries to slow down the Hawkeyes' offense in their 23-20 victory over the Nittany Lions Oct. 9 "Put yourself in the shoes of a parent. Your son is down on the field for an injury and the stadium is booing them. [They] didn't just boo that. [They] booed balls falling off tees from the wind. I don't know who we're booing for that. We weren't gaining an advantage from that. But your son is down on the field with an injury — PJ Mustipher is done for the year — and we're booing. Is that good for college football?" — Franklin, on the booing that several of his players received after being injured at Iowa They Said It "More than 1.3 million people have attended the 12 full-stadium White Out games Penn State has hosted since 2007, turning Beaver Stadium into a wall of white and sound. Former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who visited for four White Out games, has said that the atmosphere is worth a 10-point advantage for the Nit - tany Lions. Players [have said] they had to pinch their helmets to stop them from vibrating because of the sound. And athletic direc- tors across the country have ap- proached Penn State for years to ask, 'How did you do that?'" — Mark Wogenrich, SI.com writer, on the history of Penn State's annual White Out game PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL