It was good (and certainly exciting) to be back in Beaver Stadium this weekend. Penn State’s 2019 season got off to a thrilling start with the Nittany Lions’ 79-7 beatdown of Idaho in the first meeting between the two schools.

After more than four months away, you couldn’t ask for much more. The weather was beautiful, but not too hot, and there was plenty to cheer for, making for as ideal of a game day as you could ask for.

Here are a few things we observed from the student section, Gate A, and the tailgate lots.

New Student Ticket System Chaotic, Confusing, But Not Awful

Shocker: We’re going to start by talking about the new student ticketing procedures.

The line outside Gate A was abnormally long and seemed slow-moving while walking by. There were also plenty of students who didn’t have their tickets loaded to their phones in line at the resolution booth.

I ended up in the resolution booth area because one of my friends was unable to link his TicketMaster and Nittany Lions accounts. After about fifteen minutes of being told to talk to all different people, my group was given three tickets — without any of us needing to show our ID or scan our phone. Although we all had season tickets, this could be a problem in the future if sneaking in continues to go unchecked — similar to the insanity of before the 2016 White Out.

In consolation, despite the long lines and slow-moving crowd, the student section seemed to be nearly filled up well before the end of the first quarter, so something must’ve worked. Or just a ton of people got in without scanning their tickets like me.

If you have takes about the new system used for student ticketing or parking, let us know here.

The Return Of The Joe Paterno Banner

It wouldn’t be game day without someone fighting to clear Joe Paterno’s name. A banner reading, “President Barron: After 61 years, Joe Paterno deserved better than this!” flew over the stadium during pregame.

As seen over the tailgate lots today: pic.twitter.com/MkSOPYCmMi

— Onward State (@OnwardState) August 31, 2019

Last season, a similarly looking banner demanding Barron release the report flew over before the Michigan State game. Sure enough, three months later, the report in question — the Trustees’ report on the flaws of the Freeh Report — leaked. We’ll see if anything comes of this banner.

This Is An S.O.S.

Joe Jonas tweeted Friday night he’d be tailgating at Beaver Stadium this weekend, and sure enough, he showed up. Before traveling to Hershey for his concert Saturday night, he took in warmups and the beginning of the game from the sidelines.

Joe Jonas has been spotted on the sideline of Beaver Stadium! pic.twitter.com/g59ku3D9RZ

— Onward State (@OnwardState) August 31, 2019

Want to know how much Penn State loves Joe Jonas? When he was introduced alongside Nittany Lions-turned-Eagles Miles Sanders and Shareef Miller, Jonas drew the loudest cheers.

We’ll see you tomorrow, Joe.

The Playlist

We had some suggestions of what Beaver Stadium Music Man PJ Mullen should play on repeat all season long. Although Mullen didn’t fully take our advice, “Old Town Road” was among the most frequently-played songs in the queue. The Blue Band even gave us what might be the one version of the cult phenomenon better than the one by Mason Ramsey/Young Thug when it performed its own rendition early in the game.

In addition to “Old Town Road,” other hits to track throughout the year include “Truth Hurts” by Lizzo and “Year 3000” by the Jonas Brothers. There was plenty of JoBros on the playlist this weekend, but we’re unsure if they’ll stay in the mix when Joe isn’t in attendance and the brothers don’t have a concert coming up.

While Mullen rolled out a few hits we haven’t heard in years past, there was no “Sweet Caroline,” “Livin’ On A Prayer,” or “Mr. Brightside.” What is gameday without those bangers?

Where Was The New First Down Cheer?

A new first down cheer was introduced last week at the “Be A Part From The Start” pep rally. It received an overall “meh” response on social media but never made an appearance this weekend. There were certainly plenty of opportunities to do it — after all, the Nittany Lions had 35 first downs.

.@PennStateFball unveiled a new first down chant for the Class of 2023 to practice.

Beaver Stadium's PA announcer was on hand tonight to give #PSU2023 a chance to practice it. pic.twitter.com/FzOiARZ2Yz

— Onward State (@OnwardState) August 26, 2019

Photo Of The Day

Quote Of The Day: Girl to her crying friend in the tailgate lots behind the Arboretum: “This is what happens when you drink a Four Loko and are a lil bitch.”