When a football team is heading into a raucous environment, they will tend to blast the noise at practices during the week leading up to the game. A number of opponents probably do that before making a trip to Penn State’s Beaver Stadium. But ahead of its road game at Northwestern, Penn State made the decision to practice in relative silence in practices. Expecting a polar opposite to the whiteout environment it hosted the previous week, Penn State turned the volume down at practices with little expectation the crowd noise in Northwestern’s Ryan Field would be a concern.
Whether that paid off or not is for you to decide after Penn State overcame a sloppy and lackluster start on offense only to pull away for a 41-13 victory at Northwestern in Week 5. But after the game, Northwestern interim head coach David Braun responded to Penn State’s practice technique and openly expressed his anticipation for Penn State’s eventual return to Evanston.
“Do we know when Penn State returns to Evanston and Ryan Field,” Braun asked in his postgame press conference when asked about Penn State head coach James Franklin’s quotes about the silent practices. “I tell you what, I saw a group of student section, maybe not right at 11 o’clock, but as the game wore on, I saw a student section that started to show up.”
“I saw a group of energized fans in that first half and I see a football program that’s trending in the right direction,” Braun went on to say. “New stadium on the way. I look forward to inviting coach Franklin and Penn State back to Ryan Field and seeing what type of environment we can create for them next time he’s here.”
To answer Braun’s question about Penn State’s next trip to Evanston, that is still unknown. The Big Ten previously released football schedules for the 2024 and 2025 seasons with the inclusion of USC and UCLA. But since the release of those new schedules, the Big Ten added Oregon and Washington to the conference lineup, which likely means more revisions to the Big Ten football schedule are in the works.
Penn State did not have a trip to Northwestern scheduled in 2024 or 2025 under the previously released Big Ten scheduling format. But perhaps a revision could alter that timeline and bring Penn State back to Northwestern sooner than anticipated.
Of course, Braun may not be there to welcome Penn State to Evanston whenever that time occurs. Braun is serving as Northwestern’s interim head coach this season after the removal of Pat Fitzgerald over the summer. Whether Braun holds on to the job moving beyond 2023 remains to be seen.
Full statement– “Do we know when Penn State returns to Evanston and Ryan Field? I tell you what, I saw a group of student section, maybe not right at 11 o’clock, but as the game wore on, I saw a student section that started to show up. I saw a group of energized fans in that…"
— Caleb Nixon (@calebnixon03) September 30, 2023
"…first half and I see a football program that’s trending in the right direction. New stadium on the way. I look forward to inviting coach Franklin and Penn State back to Ryan Field and seeing what type of environment we can create for them next time he’s here.”
— Caleb Nixon (@calebnixon03) September 30, 2023
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