The weather gods, unlike the football gods, have shined on Happy Valley this football season.
And with that, I feel that I have just jinxed us that for the Nebraska game we will get 14 inches of snow. But of the things I noticed yesterday, for an early November day, that was fantastic weather all things considered.
There were quite a few other things I noticed inside Beaver Stadium about the gameday presentation and experience.
Did you notice:
• The biggest one on my mind was how Penn State would handle changes in the pregame videos now that James Franklin has been fired. In quite a few ways, it prompted some changes but most of which were subtle.
Franklin got significantly less airtime but was still included in the videos. What was noticeable was that Penn State added in clips of Terry Smith to the various montages. Smith appeared to steal some airtime on all three of the videos that played before kickoff.
It wasn’t necessarily a surprise that Penn State updated the packages, which they should have anyway. But it was nice to see that much of Smith in the videos.
• Penn State leveraged a video called “Who Are We” which was narrated by Michael Mauti as the main pump-up video for the day. I believe this was an entirely brand new video for the game, although reminiscent of the one video that featured Mauti before the College Football Playoff first round game.
It was good. It’s also funny (and correct) that Mauti is always the guy Penn State goes to for some energy. Beside Saquon Barkley, he is arguably the most beloved Penn State football player of the 21st century. It was an excellent call.
• I was also curious if the biggest literal sign of the Franklin era would still be around. The 1-0 banner that is the last thing the players see before they run out onto the field was still there. Wonder if the new guy will keep it or take it down?
• Beaver Stadium was louder on Saturday even with about 6,000 people less than at the Oregon game and you can’t change my mind. I think that’s in part because people had low expectations for what was going to happen, and even despite the outcome, Penn State surprised many. The crowd made a legitimate impact, which supports the theory that no matter what, Penn Staters will always show up. Truth be told, seeing the way the crowd got involved on Saturday may be my favorite memory of this season so far. It was a strikingly different tone than the vibe against Northwestern.
• The sound coming from the speakers has been very inconsistent this season. It will be interesting to see if Penn State improves the sound equipment in 2026 or 2027 with all of the upcoming renovations. In part, I noticed this because I don’t recall seeing captions again, especially when the referee was making calls.
• Blue Band drum major Ellie Sheehan has been the biggest star of the 2025 Penn State football season. No drum major has received as big of an ovation as she does when she nails the flip. But her stardom took to a new level on Saturday when she, alongside Blue Sapphire Mackenzie Bronk, joined the Lionettes for a routine on the field. In terms of non-football moments, it might have been the best moment of the entire season inside of the stadium.
• The epidemic of shirtless dudes waving their t-shirts over their heads has officially reached Happy Valley. The group grew throughout the game in the EAU and got plenty of airtime on the jumbotron.
• I happened upon an interesting WiFi network inside the stadium called “FOX CFB A.” A small part of me wonders if this was temporarily there after Gus Johnson’s comments about cell phone service inside Beaver Stadium on gamedays.
• Confer’s Jewelers updated its ad for the game with a little bit of ability to read the room. Throughout the season, their activation on the ribbon boards said “Championship Has A Nice Ring To It.” However, they changed it (with a few occasions of seeing the old graphic on the lower ribbon boards) to “The Guys Are Studs” on the super ribbon boards.
• I noticed some Roar+ guerrilla marketing on Saturday. There were QR code stickers for the subscription service on a few of the benches in our section. I don’t know if anyone could sign up with the WiFi and cellphone service struggles but credit to Penn State and the Roar+ gang for trying.
• While I didn’t fully count, it did feel like there were fewer requests for money by Penn State on the jumbotron. I don’t recall seeing a Roar+ ad there or a general Nittany Lion Club one. However, I could be misremembering it so feel free to call me out if I’m wrong.
• After the game, I noticed a Twitter account claiming to be Pat Kraft using the handle “@PatKraftPSU.” It would be big news if the Penn State AD is on Twitter. However, I confirmed with Penn State that the account is not legitimate and they are trying to get it shut down.
• Two beers did not work and I will not be going to three.
What did you notice? What’s the best part of the gameday experience? What’s the worst part? Shoot me a note at darian@stuffsomerssays.com and we might chat about it on this week’s podcast.
