Picture this: Drew Allar and Penn State football’s offense take the field to a deafening roar on Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia. Allar fires a pass but barely misses his target, as he couldn’t quite hear the call in his headset. One incompletion and a brief Kaytron Allen run later, the offense is forced to punt.

This type of scenario happens to every team, especially on the road. The steps Penn State is taking to prepare for opening the 2024 season away are important and magnified, as many true freshmen and transfers will be traveling with the team for the first time.

“Home field advantage is a real thing. I think that’s No. 1,” James Franklin said. “I think No. 2, when you talk about the specifics of a home-field advantage, it’s the noise in the stadium. You can replicate that a little bit. It’s players that are playing for Penn State for the first time. How are they going to handle that? It’s one thing to do it at home in front of 100,000, which is challenging. It’s another thing to do it on the road with 70,000 people that kind of hate you.”

It’s unclear whether or not Penn State is using leaf blowers, fake crowd noise, or another equivalent in practice this week. However, if they can replicate noise as Franklin said, it seems like the logical thing to do.

However, the arguably bigger concern with opening on the road is Franklin’s second point. It’s tough for any Nittany Lion making their debut, even at Beaver Stadium. Going on the road to a stadium full of 70,000 fans who are desperate for revenge from last year’s game is an entirely different situation.

“It’s traveling for the first time and we haven’t traveled with some of those guys before. The hotel, the bus, the meals, the sleep, sleeping in a different bed; all these types of things, they factor in,” Franklin said.

Franklin and the coaching staff have an immense challenge on their hands with several new pieces in the fold, including wideout Julian Fleming. Fleming is expected to be an integral part of the receiving corps, while there has been recent buzz surrounding true freshman Tyseer Denmark. The importance of having those two prepared for the Mountaineers is perhaps more important than some veteran players, as they know what to expect.

It all comes down to the little things that Franklin mentioned. Preparation off the field aside from film sessions and practice can trickle in and make an impact.

“So just making sure that you’re doing everything you can,” Franklin said. “Some of those things you can prepare them for and other things you can’t. It’s making sure the freshman doesn’t leave one of our tester tip sheets on the floor in the meeting room because everybody that works in that hotel is probably connected to or works for somebody at West Virginia football. That stuff sounds funny and silly, but that happens.”