During halftime of the Ohio State game on Oct. 8, ESPN College football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said of the Penn State student section: "That's the best student section in the country; they're crazy."

Crazy would be one of the many adjectives that could be used to describe the fans who successfully "whited-out" the Buckeyes. The student section was constantly bouncing on the bleachers to the tune of "Zombie Nation" and screaming so loudly it was impossible for anyone in it to be able to hear the person next to him.

"I think that even when we started out and people had some doubts as to whether we would be able to be competitive, I thought the fans were great, particularly the student body," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "They have been very enthusiastic crowds."

The Ohio State game, however, was three weeks ago, and three weeks is an eternity in the world of college football. Seemingly, some of the fans have lost a bit of their passion in that time span.

For the Ohio State game, the campers started pitching their tents in "Paternoville" on the Sunday before the game at around 6 p.m., in order to secure front row seats. For this week's game against Purdue, the tents were not put up until yesterday, and there were only five as of 4:30 p.m.

"The number of tents are expected to triple by the end of the night, and we should have the Paternoville sign by the end of the night too," said Tom Frame (freshman-information sciences and technology), one of the first Paternoville settlers this week. Frame said he also expects there to be around 30 tents by the end of the week, somewhat small in comparison to the near 100 tents that waited in the pouring rain for their tickets three weeks ago.

"I don't think that the passion has been lost," said Ryan Ellis (senior-biology), who has been camping out for all four of his years at Penn State. "I think that it has more to do with the national coverage that we got, with Cold Pizza and College GameDay.

"I have never seen anything like that Ohio State game. I mean, I've only been here for one other winning season [in 2002], but even the Nebraska game was nowhere near the Ohio State game."

Both Ellis and Frame both believe that if both Penn State and Wisconsin win this weekend, that the meeting between those two teams on Nov. 5 could be just as crazy as the Ohio State game.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there were over 50 tents here next weekend, easily," Frame said.

Saturday's homecoming game is the first time home fans will get a chance to see their team play in two weeks. And, there is still the prospect for a Big Ten title for Penn State, which has fans as hyped as ever.

"As far as it goes inside the stadium, I think it will be as intense as Ohio State because we are still going for the Big Ten title," Ellis said.