Before Penn State became the center of the college football universe for all of the wrong reasons, it was highly respected. That’s why Notre Dame was happy to have a road game lined up with the Nittany Lions for its second 2007 contest. But the game’s timing turned out to be terrible. It followed the worst season-opening defeat in program history, a 33-3 disaster against Georgia Tech in South Bend, and a frenzied crowd to rival all others awaited them.
On Sept. 8, 2007, the Irish went into Happy Valley looking for stability. Ahead of the contest, Charlie Weis tabbed freshman Jimmy Clausen to make his first career start. They and the rest of the team realized quickly they would have to do it during Penn State’s annual White Out. Unlike previous years, all fans were asked to wear white instead of only the students, and it hard to find any Nittany Lion supporter among the 110,078 who packed Beaver Stadium who didn’t comply.
The Irish got on the board first with Darrin Walls’ 73-yard interception return for a touchdown. All momentum from that was lost for good when, in the final minute of the first quarter, Derrick Williams returned a punt to the end zone from 78 yards out. From there, the crowd continued to make noise, and everything that could go wrong for the Irish did in a 31-10 loss. Just watch these videos from the game and say you’d be able to focus on your job:
With a completely unforgiving backdrop, the Notre Dame offense was shut down. Clausen was sacked six times, and the run game accumulated no yardage on 26 carries. It’s miraculous that Clausen only threw one interception and that none of the Irish’s three fumbles were lost. Had it gone any worse, Clausen surely would have been pulled.
Loud crowd noise make communication difficult, and that’s exactly what happened. The Irish were penalized 14 times for 97 yards. To say it simply was due to no discipline would be selling the Penn State fans short. They forced the Irish to listen to each other carefully and closely, and it still wasn’t enough to keep the flags off the field.
Though it was a bad night to be a Notre Dame supporter and it came during a 3-9 season, you had to give the Penn State fans credit. They went all out in supporting their team, and it paid off for them. Of course, Penn State’s reputation was shattered a few years later, and it’s perfectly reasonable if you continue to look at that program, university and community through that lens. Regardless, this is a fan base that knows how to cheer, and for one night, Irish fans got to experience it firsthand.
