Who’s ready for Penn State football?! Valley is, especially for the rivalry game against Pittsburgh this Saturday.
Last Saturday, Penn State opened their season at home against the Akron Zips, completely blowing them out with a score of 52-0. This was a great start for the Nittany Lions, and provided fans with high hopes of what is to come for the team for the rest of the fall.
This weekend, the University of Pittsburgh will make their way to Happy Valley for the game of the year. This time last year, Pitt and Penn State faced off in Pittsburgh, with an unfortunate loss for Penn State. With a score of 39-42, Penn State fans were devastated.
“As a native of Pittsburgh, being in the city and watching us lose such a close game was a really heartbreaking moment for one of my first Penn State football games,” says sophomore Daniel Lehecka.
With time, however, Penn State was able to do better and win more games, ending the season 11-3, while also becoming the Big Ten champs in December. The team then made it to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, unfortunately losing 49-52 to the University of Southern California Trojans.
With that game aside, though, the Nittany Lions are back and better, ready to redeem themselves against Pittsburgh. Students across campus, and other loyal Penn State fans, are ready for the rivals to face off, and are looking forward to a good outcome for the home team. With the record that Penn State achieved last season, and the fact that they won this past weekend, there are high expectations for the team to win. “It would make it that much better when we beat them,” says sophomore Sam Corazza, “mainly because of what happened last year. A win would definitely boost campus morale overall.”
To add to the fan spirit, especially among students, James Franklin has requested that the student section be a white out, to bring everyone together and show how unified the university is. Having an entire section of the stands come together to show the pride and excitement that Penn State students embody only makes the school that much better. “Panthers can only aspire to be Nittany Lions,” says senior Lexi Ruth, as she prepares to stand among fellow classmates at the game on Saturday. She, along with everyone on campus, is already getting amped up for the rivalry.
Valley looks forward to what will happen during the game this weekend, hopefully resulting in a successful win for the Nittany Lions.
