Being home just feels so nice, right?

Penn State football made its return to Beaver Stadium for the 2024 season on Saturday, narrowly dodging an upset from Bowling Green after taking care of West Virginia the week prior. A weak defensive performance forced Penn State’s running backs to take care of business, and the Nittany Lions’ offense churned their way to a 34-27 win.

Outside of the on-field issues, there was plenty to notice from Saturday’s game. Let’s get into the sights and sounds from the weekend.

Overall Stadium Renovations Unnoticable

Fans were introduced to the first round of Beaver Stadium renovations on Saturday, and the changes were…unimportant.

The most notable part of the renovations was the facade above Gate A, though this largely looked similar enough to ignore. A sign bearing Kirk Herbstreit’s quote about the student section was still there, even if it the pavement it sat on jutted out a little bit more. To Penn State’s credit though, the gate was under intense construction not even two weeks ago. At least it got done.

Penn State also debuted what was supposed to be a new and improved WiFi system, though the WiFi didn’t work at all, at least in the student section. The stadium added 135 WiFi access points across the stadium, but use of a mobile phone was just as impossible as it had been last year.

The escalators installed won’t be running until the Illinois game. The south end zone super ribbon video boards won’t be running until the Ohio State game.

New Stadium Food Is…Meh?

While Penn State’s changes to the stadium food weren’t part of renovations, they were another change to the normal stadium atmosphere.

The stadium food was a bit of a flop. It was overpriced and not particularly enjoyable. While Penn State Athletics tried to sell non-typical stadium food to change things up, the cheesesteaks just didn’t seem to pan out.

Penn State Could Sell Out vs. State College Area

More than 103,000 people turned out to watch Penn State play Bowling Green, a firm reminder that the Nittany Lions could play your local high school and still probably get 100,000 in that stadium. Nothing stops Penn Staters from coming to watch their team, even if that includes nearly losing to a MAC team that was paid handsomely to make the trip to Happy Valley.

THON Game Makes Return

Saturday’s game had a few themes, not the least of which was that it served as the 2024 THON game. Penn State has a full slate of game themes for the 2024 season, so giving the THON game to Bowling Green was the best way to give it its justice.

Regardless, the student section did its job. The yellow THON ribbon stayed intact for the full game, while some students donned yellow paint to celebrate and honor the event.

We dance in 165!

Bowling Green Band Shows Out

For as impressive as Bowling Green football’s performance was on Saturday, the program’s marching bang just about had them beat.

Most programs, especially smaller schools, won’t bring a large band to road games. Bowling Green, seemingly, brought its own band and some friends. The group was massive, taking up nearly the entire band section behind the north end zone and often clashing with the Blue Band.

Oh, and they also had a pretty sweet halftime show. It wasn’t a bad overall showing from Bowling Green.

Student Section Upset, Intact Through Fourth Quarter

Normally, when Penn State plays a lower-level team, the student section in the south end zone will start clearing out by halftime. Once students know the game’s over, it’s back to the tailgating scene.

However, with Bowling Green pushing for an upset, hardly anyone left until the game was mostly over and Penn State secured its win with Nick Singleton’s touchdown. An impassioned fan base yelled at players and coaches as they returned to the locker room losing to the Falcons.

Sometimes, it takes a MAC team to get students really invested in their football program.