By early Monday morning, it was clear that something special was developing outside Beaver Stadium's Gate A.
Paternoville campers began showing up at 5 a.m. to get their groups registered for the year's first weeklong Paternoville campout, even though tents could not go up until midnight. As of 6 p.m., Paternoville Coordination Committee (PCC) President Alex Cohen said 88 groups and 762 people were registered.
"I knew this was going to be a big game and there would be a lot of people," Cohen said. "It's just unbelievable. I didn't think [Paternoville] would be as big as it's going to be."
With numbers that large, tent placement and student safety becomes a major issue.
Penn State Associate Athletic Director Greg Myford said the athletic department has worked diligently with the PCC to make sure both parties are prepared for an event like this.
"There is a designated area where Paternoville can be," he said. "Student campers and [PCC officials] need to determine how many can safely camp there."
As of press time, the PCC had yet to determine the exact layout of the tents. Cohen told campers to be prepared to start lining tents up at 9 p.m.
While PCC officials spent the day signing students in, excitement steadily grew amongst this week's campers. Danny Mengisteab was the first camper to sign in at Gate A.
"We remember Iowa beating Penn State last year," Mengisteab (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said. "We want to have the best seats when we get back with them."
Mengisteab, who is camping out with a group of his dorm floormates, said they did Paternoville earlier in the season to get the experience for weeks like this one.
"We did it for the Syracuse game, kind of as a test run," he said. "Now we feel like we've got a lot more experience, and we're ready for the Iowa game."
Ryan Behnken arrived soon after Mengisteab. He said despite the early arrival, sacrificing sleep would be worth it come Saturday.
"It's the price you pay for wanting to sit in the front row, which is good because you've got to earn it," Behnken (senior-history) said.
Even though most campers come for the tickets, the weeklong campouts have become just as much about the experience. PCC homecoming chair Nick Rotondi said tickets for this week are simply not that important.
"At a certain point, the weeklong campouts become more for the experience," he said. "It's a week that's a showcase for Paternoville."
Rotondi said other Paternoville campouts set the stage for this week: The 2005 Ohio State game was the first big Paternoville, and the 2006 Michigan campout set the precedent for Paternoville rules.
Now, with the largest recorded group of campers for a Paternoville, the party is just getting started.
"They say a picture is worth 1,000 words," Cohen said. "This [Paternoville] is worth more than that."
Collegian Staff Writer Stephen Hennessey contributed to this report.
