Penn State Football Blown Away By AT&T Stadium
AT&T Stadium is one of the United States’ most impressive sporting venues, and Penn State football has been calling it home for the past week.
The Nittany Lions have practiced at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys for the past two days as they acclimate themselves to their surroundings in north Texas. Simply put, AT&T Stadium is a gorgeous venue that any football player would be lucky to take the field in.
“I was amazed as soon as I saw it,” All-American linebacker Micah Parsons said. “Never seen anything like it.”
“Being here at the stadium is probably the biggest thing. We don’t get to play in NFL stadiums a lot,” star wideout KJ Hamler added. “Just being in [AT&T Stadium] is kind of amazing. Playing in the dome — it’s a big difference from playing in Beaver Stadium. You can tell that, when the fans come in here, it’ll be electric.”
The main attraction of the 100,000-seat stadium, of course, is its truly humongous center-hung scoreboard. The jumbotron weighs roughly 1,200,000 pounds and measures out to nearly 12,000 square feet of LED screens for fans’ viewing pleasure. It hangs more than 90 feet above the field, but that didn’t stop kickoff specialist Jordan Stout from taking aim at the Cowboys’ big TV.
“Ever since I knew we were coming here for the bowl game, I was like, ‘I’m going to hit the board,'” Stout said. “Me and Blake [Gillikin] — we were hunting.”
The transfer from Virginia Tech said that hitting the board was “pretty easy,” and Gillikin confirmed that he and Stout successfully punted the ball into the screen multiple times. Stout said that he and Gillikin hit the jumbotron 12 times each, but Gillikin added that one of his normal punts in games wouldn’t have enough height to strike the scoreboard.
As you can clearly see, the Nittany Lions’ kickoff specialist provided video evidence of his scoreboard-hunting success. However, the senior didn’t feel the need to follow his lead.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the term ‘clout.’ Jordan is a big proponent of clout,” Gillikin said. “He likes attention, so he posts all these videos online. I also hit the scoreboard, but I didn’t need to post it online. Just knowing that I did it is good enough for me.”
Practicing in the home of the Dallas Cowboys has proven to be immensely valuable for Penn State’s players. Tight ends coach Tyler Bowen, who will call the Nittany Lions’ offensive plays against Memphis this weekend, thinks that having practices in the stadium itself will lead to a sense of familiarity with the players on Saturday.
Playing at AT&T Stadium is a particularly special occasion for sophomore wide receiver Jahan Dotson. Although he hails from Nazareth, Pennsylvania — a small town located just 30 minutes away from Allentown in the northeastern part of the state — Dotson grew up supporting the Dallas Cowboys.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Dotson said. “I’ve always dreamed of coming here — whether it’s playing here or just seeing it. Playing and practicing in the stadium has been really cool. It’s nothing like anything I’ve ever seen before.”
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