Penn State football has one final regular-season game in Beaver Stadium for the 2024 season. The Nittany Lions host 4-7 Maryland at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 30.

Many students will be wrapping up Thanksgiving break and making their way back to State College for the final few weeks of the semester. Every time Penn State plays over break, student section attendance doesn’t come close to capacity. The cold weather combined with usually playing a bad opponent doesn’t entice many students to return to campus a few days earlier.

This year should be different. Penn State students must come back early for the Maryland game.

Point blank, this year is different. Yes, it’s still going to be cold in Happy Valley, and yes, Maryland still sucks. However, the implications this game has for the rest of Penn State’s season are as high as any other game to date.

It’s simple for the Nittany Lions: win and they are a lock to be in the College Football Playoff. A victory over the Terrapins would also put the blue and white in the driver’s seat to host a playoff game in late December.

There is still an outside chance Penn State could find itself playing for a Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis after next week. The Nittany Lions would need some help elsewhere with Michigan knocking off Ohio State.

Penn State has a chance to finish the regular season 11-1 for the first time since 2008. To cut to the chase, there is a lot on the line when kickoff happens at mid-afternoon on Saturday.

No matter if it ends up being a home playoff game, a Big Ten Championship berth, or just an 11-1 season, this team deserves a packed student section for its last regular-season game inside Beaver Stadium. Everyone knows the role students play in making Beaver Stadium the most intimidating environment in college sports. That precedent shouldn’t change if it’s Maryland or Ohio State or if it’s the last day in November or the first day of September.

It’s our job as students to show up for seven Saturdays each fall for four years to cheer on the Nittany Lions and make any difference we can as spectators.

For seniors, you were freshmen when Penn State finished the season 7-6. James Franklin’s program has lost six games total since that season. We owe it to the team and the players who have put in so much work to turn this program into a successful one to show up for the Maryland game and be loud.

The players feed off the energy we make in the student section, and in turn, opposing teams fear our impact. This past Saturday proved anything can happen in college football. We saw seven ranked teams inside the top 20 go down. Anyone can beat anyone this season, and we don’t want that to happen to our Nittany Lions.

Cheering on the team from our parents’ couch back at home does no good. And if Maryland pulled off the upset on Saturday and the student section was half full, some of the loss would fall on us. Nobody wants that to happen, so show up and be a difference-maker.

I call on every student who didn’t plan to return to State College for the game to adjust their schedules and come back a few days earlier than planned to watch the Nittany Lions throttle the Terrapins and solidify their spot in the playoffs.

We have a chance to be a part of history by seeing one of the most successful Penn State teams of this century on our home field once again. The Nittany Lions have never been in the playoffs since it began in 2014 and only have played in one Big Ten Championship since it started in 2011.

One, or both of those, could change with a win over Maryland this weekend. Let’s give the team the best shot at succeeding by showing up for them one last time in the regular season.

Enjoy the brisk November air in Happy Valley, spend all morning tailgating, and cheer on Penn State with your closest friends inside Beaver Stadium this Saturday.