The No. 1 student section in the nation kicked off the 2010 football season Friday night with Football Eve, which students said upped their anticipation for the coming season.
Football Eve featured performances from the Blue Band, cheerleaders, Lionettes and Nittany Lion mascot and ended with an appearance by Coach Joe Paterno and the football team.
Captains Brett Brackett and Ollie Ogbu led the team out of the tunnel to mounting shouts and applause from the hundreds of fans who packed the stadium. But the loudest cheers of the night were reserved for Paterno, who waited at the microphone while the crowd chanted his name.
When the cheers died down, Paterno spoke of the past before looking ahead to the upcoming season.
Paterno told the crowd that when the decision came to move into Beaver Stadium 50 years ago, he opposed the idea.
"If they move the stadium, it will ruin Penn State football," he told the crowd he had said. "Fifty years later, look at this, baby."
Paterno said the season was going to be a "fight" -- but one that could be won with hard work and encouragement from the crowd.
"I want you to know this group of kids behind me are gonna make you happy," he said, referring to the team.
The team has "a ways" to go but is working to make the season "something special," he said.
Some students said they are eager to do their part in the 2010 football campaign.
Friday marked the fourth Football Eve for senior Joe Prozeralik, whose friends call him the "No. 1 football fan" -- or at least the loudest.
Wearing a Penn State jersey and cheering from the front row, Prozeralik (senior-environmental resource management) said each year just keeps getting better.
"Every year JoePa stays as incredible as he was," Prozeralik said. "And I just cherish it more and more every year."
He said he'll be sad to miss football season next year -- but his friends reminded him that's what the five-year plan is for.
The night may have been nostalgic for some upperclassman, but many freshmen said they were eager to get their first taste of Penn State football.
It was helpful to learn the songs and dances, said Jenna Gordon, who attended the event with a group of friends.
"It makes this feeling of a community, even as freshman," Gordon (freshman-forensic science) said.
