The first week of class is now in the books, under your belt.  The passing of Friday night means it’s Saturday, a day which will now forever hold a new name to you…. GAME DAY! 

First things first, congratulations on acquiring tickets. Unfortunately, I was not so lucky this past summer. If you were like me and didn’t get those coveted student section season tickets, there are solutions to your problem. Ticketmaster, with all of its flaws on the day you tried to buy tickets, is actually a pretty great place to get reasonably priced tickets for game day. Based on my (2 weeks of) experience, it is about $10 less expensive to purchase tickets if you buy them two at a time. Therefore, it’s a good idea to find another poor friend struggling to find tickets and buy them together. 

Now that you have a pass into the beautiful landmark that is Beaver Stadium, clear your Saturday schedule and any plans you had for completing your homework because you are now booked. Step one of game day is super simple. Wake up and throw on whatever Penn State merch you have left in your closet. If you’ve planned poorly, still pull out whatever dirty (but hopefully not smelly) Penn State t-shirt you shouldn’t have worn last week.

The first major perk of game day comes when you grab brunch. The dining hall food is noticeably better. It might be just me, but I think Penn State dining may be trying to impress all the parents who came for the game. 

After brunch, it’s time to tailgate. Hopefully you’ve made a few friends from Penn State families because alumni find their way back by the thousands for every home game. Parents host tailgates as a great way to meet their son/daughter’s new friends from college. (I know my parents would do the same.)

Be sure to arrive at the tailgate several hours before game time because A: Grilled food is fantastic, and B: You should leave time to head in to the game early so you can get good seats.

During a tailgate, drink plenty of water. A bottle of water costs $4 in the stadium. You don’t want to have to pay for that, and during a close game, you don’t want to leave your seat to stand in line and get water. On the other side of the coin, if you’re hosting a tailgate, bring twice as much water as you think you’ll need (especially for the early games when the sun is unforgiving). Speaking of the sun, sunscreen is also a really good idea. 

After you’ve finished stuffing yourself with burgers, head into the stadium at least an hour before game time (longer if it is a big game). The student section in Beaver Stadium fills up front to back, so if you want a close seat, you’ll need to arrive early. 

Once you’ve sat with your buddies, take up as much space as possible, because by the end of the game you will not have any. Also, who are we kidding, you’re in the student section, you won’t be sitting at all during the game. 

You are now ready for your first taste of Penn State Football!