The Stadiums of the Big11Ten: Part 6

BEAVER STADIUM

The Beav on a game day.

Location: State College, PA
School: Penn State University
Year Opened: 1960
Capacity: 107,282
Largest Crowd: 110,753 Sept. 14, 2002 Penn State 40, Nebraska 7
Big Game(s):
Distinguishing Architectural Feature: It’s a big mangled piece of metal. The scoreboards are pretty epic, and yeah, there are two of them.
Current/Past Traditions: The Blue Band playing a song made famous by a convicted pedophile just before the team takes the field. Also, throwing marshmallows, the hi-jacked whiteouts and booing Morelli. If there's one player on the field PSU fans hate, it's their own quarterback.
Riots: Some kids tried to rush the field after the Ohio State game in ’05, and they got pepper sprayed. THEN, the fuzz used Facebook to track down people who had uploaded photos of themselves on the field. Then of course there were all those little scuffles downtown, but we won't mention those here. Oops.
Other Uses: Occasionally appears in PSU promo commercials. Otherwise, no one touches the field. Rumored to host an outdoor NHL game between the Flyers and Penguins. Will not happen.
Interesting Fact: Formerly located on west campus and was known as “Beaver Field”.

If ever there was a stadium experience to be a part of, Beaver Stadium has to be at the top of the list. Only a handful of other schools' stadiums can claim comparable size. Even fewer can match the noise.

Beaver Field, as it was then known, was originally built on the west side of campus. It was situated roughly between the present locations of the Nittany Lion Inn and Chambers building. We’ve got this photo for you that has some street labels on it so you can see where it once sat.

Click to enlarge

In 1960, the wole thing was picked up and shipped across town – all the way down Curtin Rd -- to its current location. Since 1960, Beaver Stadium has gone through a lot of changes, turning it into the mass of steel that we all know today. They’ve added seats everywhere, and a couple of upper-deck seating areas in the end zones that, to the dismay of many, covered up the majestic views of Mt. Nittany to the south.

When you combine the structure of the stadium, which to be honest, looks like something your little brother built with an erector set, with the noise and motion of the crowd, it makes for quite an experience. If only we could get the freshman to make noise when the DEFENSE is on the field, we’ll be in business.

Beaver Stadium is said to have the greatest fans in the nation, so watch out or – like the whiteout and hoisting girls after a touchdown – they’ll take your idea and make it famous nationally.

Thanks, Winnipeg.