A few minutes after kickoff, Penn State Police Services officers spotted two men holding open beer cans in a Beaver Stadium parking lot.

"Hi guys. It's game time right now, so we're going to have to ask you to throw out your alcohol," officer Roxanne Snider said.

Saturday marked the third Penn State home football game, and the first where the ban on drinking in tailgating areas during game time would be actively enforced, said Tyrone Parham, university police assistant director.

"At this point we're hoping that most people have heard about it," Parham said.

However, Snider said Penn State police weren't going to cite everyone seen violating the ban. While 11 people were cited for alcohol-related violations during the game, none of these citations were directly related to the drinking ban.

"If we see someone drinking, they're going to get a warning," Snider said.

Officer Matt Cover agreed that the enforcement wasn't going to be extreme.

"We're being kind of lenient about it," he said.

And it was when Cover and Snider approached the men in the parking lot next to Medlar Field.

After being asked to discard his beverage, one of the men, Michael Bailor, Class of 1991, looked at Snider incredulously.

"So you want us to litter?" he asked.

Snider shook her head no.

"We're not going to arrest you for littering," she said.

Cover pointed to a lawn a few feet away.

"Just dump it out," he said.

Bailor rolled his eyes and smiled as he walked over to the grass and poured out the remainder of his beer, commenting that the ban "sucks."

University police officer Ted Delaney said most everyone is aware of the drinking ban by now and is cooperating with it.

He said earlier in the day, he and some officers went to break up a tailgate party and met little resistance.

"We went in, people saw us and they cleared up the party," Delaney said. "We didn't have to say anything."

Officers Cover and Snider had a similar experience when they saw a group of people still drinking beers from a cardboard box on the sidewalk next to Beaver Stadium just after kickoff.

When Cover instructed them to throw out their beer, one of the men asked, "Oh, it's that time? Kickoff?"

Cover said the number of people tailgating during the game has drastically decreased from last year, which he attributed to the weather, the decreased quality of the team and the drinking ban.

However, Parham said he felt the drinking ban was the main reason for the decrease in tailgating during the game.

"There's no doubt," he said.

About 20 minutes into their patrol, Cover and Snider were called to attend to a man who had been seen drunkenly stumbling outside Beaver Stadium.

A Maryland man was escorted by Cover and Snider back to the police station at Beaver Stadium.

Annemarie Mountz, Penn State spokeswoman, was in the station taking pictures for the university's Web site, www.live.psu.edu.

She shook her head as intoxicated individuals were brought into the station throughout the game, filling up the station's three interview rooms and holding area.

"It's like this every Saturday, football game or no football game," Skip Brien, a university police officer, said.

Holding her camera, Mountz followed as a Penn State student was put on a gurney and wheeled off to an ambulance, his eyes glazed over and vomit covering his red pullover.

Ultimately, Mountz said, the drinking ban is meant to protect people at Penn State.

"It's all about safety, what we're trying to do out there," Mountz said.

Cover sighed.

"Doesn't look like we've been able to do much of that today though," he said, noting that he and Snider had been stuck with the Maryland man in the station for more than an hour as they waited for someone to arrive who they could release him to. He was cited with public drunkenness.

Cover said all of the other foot patrol units were similarly occupied.

However, Mountz said what the police were doing was still making an impact.

"We kept these people safe," she said.