Blue White Illustrated

1964 season, coach Rip Engle came up with the idea of ringing the bell after football victories, home and away, and his concept was approved by the college administration and the military science commandant. Engle's '64 team endured Penn State's worst start since 1931, losing three in a row before upsetting host Army, 6-2. Driving back from the airport after re- turning from West Point, Engle decided to ring the old ship's bell. He stopped the car, found an old piece of wood and he and his passenger, assistant coach Jim O'Hora, hit the bell twice each, signify- ing the four-point margin of victory over Army. It's unclear whether the bell was rung after the team won three of its next four games, including a 27-0 upset over No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus. But after beat- ing Houston, 24-7, at Houston on Nov. 14, 400 students were at Wagner Build- ing Sunday night when the coaches and several players rang the bell with a newly made leather mallet. This time, they rang it to match the number of points Penn State scored in the victory. However, the bell-ringing never really caught on, and despite occasional postgame gatherings at Wagner Build- ing, the tradition faded away until 1978. That year, the Nittany Lion mascot, Cliff Fiscus, created what he thought was a new tradition, the ringing of a victory bell at Beaver Stadium after wins. Fis- cus' plan called for the mascot to do the ringing, and that's the way it was done for a couple of years, with the bell at field level the first year and then in front of the south end zone scoreboard. When the bell cracked after a ringing in 1980, an electronic bell began to be used, with the mascot faking it for a time. As the years passed, the electronic bell rang but the tradition was hardly noticed by the fans. It wasn't until 2008 when Dean Devore, the longtime stadium an- nouncer, suggested revising the tradi- tion. A second, uncracked bell that had been installed at the scoreboard some- time in the 1980s but removed in 1993 was found in the All-Sports Museum collection and installed before the 2009 season. Nowadays, it's not just the cap- tains and head coach who ring the bell after victories, but any player and coach who wants to do it. As some traditions disappear, there al- ways is a new tradition emerging. The once-popular throwing of marsh- mallows by the students is passé, having ended after an embarrassing display on prime time television during the 40-7 thrashing of Nebraska on the night of Sept. 14, 2002, before the largest crowd ever in Beaver Stadium, 110,753. Camp- ing out at Nittanyville, formerly Pater- noville, is now the student passion, and it has grown since the first student tents showed up outside Gate A before the Ohio State game in 2005. Coach Bill O'Brien inaugurated a new custom in his first year as head coach in 2012, one that has pleased Penn State students and alumni alike – leading his players to the front of the Beaver Stadi- um student section to sing the Alma Mater, accompanied by the Blue Band, after every game, win or lose. Tailgating is another well-established tradition, but only old-timers remember when it all started, shortly after Beaver Stadium opened in 1960. Before that, when the games were played at New Beaver Field, fans would usually eat lunch at home or in a restaurant and then walk to the field for kickoff, which was always at 1 p.m. That's another thing that has changed, with games now starting anywhere from noon to 8 p.m. Then there is the reverent "We are… Penn State" cheer that is now the uni- versal living symbol of Penn State, not just football and athletics. It wasn't cre- ated until the late 1970s. Prior to that, the favorite cheer was "N-I-Double T- A-N-Y, Roar Lions Roar!" But if new coach James Franklin ever brings back those garish pink and black uniforms in any form, even for just one game, we can resurrect the original "tra- ditional" cheer used by students during the first football season in 1887. I can hardly wait to hear the more than 100,000 fans in Beaver Stadium yelling: "Yah! Yah! (Pause) Yah! Yah! Yah! "Wish, Wack – Pink, Black!" ■ The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions A diary by Lou Prato, author of the Penn State Football Encyclopedia and four other Nittany Lion books Personalized autographed copy available through Lou Prato and Associates Call 814-692-7577 or email louprato@comcast.net Price: $19.95 plus tax and shipping

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