While Jim Tressel and his No. 15 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes won't arrive at Beaver Stadium until later this week, Gate A is already buzzing about Saturday's marquee match-up.
After a few students were turned away Sunday, campers finally began signing into Paternoville at 12 a.m. Monday. It was the earliest recorded sign-in time since the Paternoville Coordination Committee (PCC) was established in 2006, Vice President John Tecce said.
"I was kind of having a face-in-palm moment, like 'oh my god,' " Tecce said as he demonstrated the look of angst. "At the same time, it shows just how excited people are for this game."
Thirty groups arrived at midnight and were signed in by 12:30 a.m. Some arrived even earlier.
As of press time Monday, 70 groups and about 490 students had signed in for the last weeklong campout of the year. Organizers and participants expect the tone of this Paternoville to be different from other campouts.
"I think it's a different feeling," Tecce said. "For Iowa, it was the first big campout of the year. It was warm, and there was a bit more of a party atmosphere. This game has got a little more of an intense tone to it."
That tone, stemming from a recent history of intense games between Big Ten title contenders, hasn't changed since Ohio State's last visit in 2007. Mirroring this season, the campout for the then top-ranked Buckeyes was the most anticipated Paternoville campout of the year.
"It was really crazy," Ben Jones (junior-political science) said. "I remember people getting here very early and setting up like this. There was a lot of anticipation because they were such a good team that year, and we were anxious to take them on."
Jones said this year the anticipation has evolved and is even greater because of the debut of Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor at Beaver Stadium. As the No. 1 high school recruit in the country during the 2007-2008 season, Pryor shunned Penn State to sign with the Buckeyes.
"I don't like the area," he said, after signing with the Buckeyes. "It's a country-looking type of thing. I just don't like that place."
Now, the students are ready to give him an earful.
"[Pryor] has given us some motivation," Troy Weller (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said. "He's one of the main reasons this week is going to be so exciting, and I think [the student section] will be noticeably louder than we've been all year."
The only possible deterrent could be State College's unpredictable weather. Two weeks ago, Paternoville was forced to shut down because of the early snowfall. According to weather.com, this week's forecast is cold but generally within the university's safety guidelines for camping.
PCC public relations representative Dan Saxton said the PCC will have ongoing discussions with the university about the weather.
"Student health is our No. 1 concern," Saxton said. "We don't want anyone getting sick and not being able to make the game."
Tecce noted that bad weather early in the week wouldn't necessarily shut down camp for good.
"It could be a situation like Michigan State last year," Tecce said. "The athletic department told us we had to shut down for a night but tents could stay up, and we came back the next day."
