Truth be told, I was going to make the ask in a feeble attempt.
I’ve asked before. But I was going to publish something Monday asking for something that I have wanted to return to Beaver Stadium for quite some time.
Then, well. You know. Things got interesting.
So now instead of asking, I want to say thank you, Beaver Stadium grounds crew. Thank you for bringing back the one end zone art I and so many others have been so desperately missing.
Moreover, thank you for giving us something to actually look forward to this weekend. Thanks for giving us a win.
The tennis ball font is back where it belongs, maybe in a spot it should have never left – on the grass inside Beaver Stadium. It’s something to smile about when there is very little to smile about right now.
It’s been about as long as those end zones have been missing that the anxiety sweeping over fans about Penn State’s play of late has been this bad. I’m not sure that it’s ever been this bad.
It’s not going to stop on Saturday either. Actually, it’s not going to stop for quite some time – even if largely good things happen over the next few Saturdays after this one.
However, Penn State giving us a perfect dose of nostalgia sure feels good. It might be Penn State’s biggest proverbial win of the season – one where there should have been at least one more of them added to the record book so far.
Penn State’s brand of basic blues, white pants and plain helmets has always been uniquely Penn State’s. No school gives less flash, less pizzazz than Penn State does with its uniforms.
But equally unique to that tradition was the slanted, slammed-together-semi-futuristic font that Penn State painted in its end zones, one which became the athletic department’s wordmark for much of the 80s, 90s and 00s. It was just as Penn State as black shoes and no names. But in 2005, Penn State said goodbye to those end zones. The blue and white paint was traded for just plain white with plain block text.
Yes, it may have been a visual turn of Penn State’s history out of the Dark Years but for many years before the first few that opened the 21st century, those end zones were a staple to the Penn State brand. And yes, I’m well aware of the irony of those end zones returning right now, but those end zones were a staple of memories tied to Penn State football – regardless of the outcome of games.
They, with the chipmunk logo appended in the corner, added a certain degree of eye-catching interest to look down on the field of Beaver Stadium with a sense of pride because no one else had or has something that looked quite like that font in college athletics.
Over the last eight or so years, Penn State has mixed up its end zones around homecoming, a welcome addition to the gameday experience. The most-often-used diamonds in varying patterns also call back to an era of Penn State football that should be celebrated. But it wasn’t as recognizably familiar to most as that italic font. The school also tried and tested out a new font, which is gorgeous, for two games last season. But it’s not Penn State in the same way that italic font, one oh-so-similar to the one found on a Penn brand tennis ball where the name stems from, became something just Penn State’s and Penn State’s alone.
It never reappeared after it was mowed in 2004 – until images surfaced online once again this week in the days after arguably the worst loss in program history.
Penn State is angsty right now. Everyone is frustrated. Everyone is feeling the impact of Penn State’s stunning loss to the Bruins in a way that hasn’t been felt in a long time. All of it is rightfully placed.
How every part expresses that avalanche of anguish will vary though. Players have said they’ll turn that anger into performance. The head coach said he will do his best to tune it out – even when that seems as difficult a task as making the College Football Playoff right now.
And no doubt will some of that angst boil over, especially when Penn State takes the field on Saturday. It may even show up when James Franklin and some players are introduced onto the jumbotron – if that moment still happens. That angst – as long as it’s presented with a respectful decorum – is largely warranted too.
Expectations set by everyone are not being met by everyone.
The loss to UCLA felt so seismic because of what it potentially takes off of the table and because of how long it will take to clean up, however you feel that’s best done.
So anything, something, to just smile about feels good. Those end zones and that design mean something. The change – even if it’s just for this weekend – feels intentional enough to remind us of why we love Penn State football and Penn State, especially at homecoming, even as clichéd as that may sound.
The memories those end zones bring back, the feelings that they evoke, feel warm when everything has been red hot.
Saturday’s atmosphere may be unlike any other – especially in a stadium known for an atmosphere unlike any other. Not since 2016 have Penn State fans been this frustrated. But right now, Penn Staters will take any win, trivial and statistical as they come.
Painting those end zones with that design feels like the first one in more than three weeks.
vs 
Time: 3:30 p.m.
TV: FS1
Announcers: Connor Onion, Mark Helfrich
Radio: Penn State Sports Network
Announcers: Steve Jones, Jack Ham, Brian Tripp
