At the Collegian, we have what we call beats. They're basically an area that a certain reporter will cover. There is the Greeks beat, business beat, administration beat, football beat, etc.

I've been covering visiting fans and their tailgates and just Penn State tailgating in general this fall. Now, this isn't an "official" beat. It just kind of happened after I tailgated with Notre Dame fans and I decided to keep doing it.

People are sometimes aghast when I tell them I don't tailgate before the game with my Penn State friends. But oh, I tailgate all right.

I've had authentic Wisconsin cheese curds at a Wisconsin tailgate and jalapeño poppers stuffed with Wisconsin cream cheese. (They really stressed the Wisconsin part.) When I said I couldn't have a beer with them, they made me eat some beer nuts instead. I've had chili with Notre Dame fans. Ohio State tailgaters offered me homemade Rita's and deviled eggs.

On Saturday mornings I would walk from my place down Curtin Road to Beaver Stadium. It's surreal walking down the middle of that street by yourself. You're surrounded on both sides by blue and white noise and every smell you could imagine. And looming over all of it is Beaver Stadium.

I've had a lot of friends who have gone to Penn State away games. They said when you go, you just expect the atmosphere will be the same, but it's not. At Michigan you tailgate on a golf course, and Ohio State tailgating consists of house parties and then walking to the game. Kind makes you happy to be living in the middle of nowhere Pa. surrounded by farm lands.

And every single visiting fan that I have ever talked to tells me how special it is here. They are amazed by our football Saturdays. They can't get over it. It isn't like this anywhere else.

I've only ever seen college football through the Penn State lens. So I've come to think that this is just how it is.

Walking through it all really gives me faith in people. That this many people can have a common bond and center around one specific thing delights me. I've seen people in wheelchairs, people on respirators, babies dressed up in small cheerleading outfits that they don't even understand and moms with huge diaper bags under their arms. Older fans using canes and holding onto their darling dears as they shuffle to the stadium. Students sacrificing their voices for their defense.

And Penn State football isn't even phenomenal right now. Why do they travel hundreds of miles and go through so much trouble to tailgate out of their car and then pack up and leave the next day? It's kind of ridiculous when you think about it. (The good kind of ridiculous.)

Maybe it's something in the water. I would think there's a different motivation for everyone. But you can bet that my kids will be wearing Penn State onesies.