With Kent State being the opponent and a weather forecast of rain, people wondered well-attended Saturday’s Penn State-Kent State game would be.
It turns out, pretty well.
Penn State announced the attendance as 109,526.
Today’s Penn State attendance. pic.twitter.com/tucvjY2WqF
— Joe Smeltzer (@joesmeltzer775) September 21, 2024
It didn’t break any records by any means, but it’s nothing to sneeze at, either.
“I thought that was impressive,” coach James Franklin said afterward. “You guys know how we approach it each week, that that was a Super Bowl for us, but sometimes certain opponents, certain fan bases, won’t show up, like that, and we don’t have that problem here at Penn State, week in and week out, the fan base shows up. And not only that, all types of discussions out there about possible bad weather, thunder, lightning, this doesn’t happen.”
Franklin knows Penn State fans are to be appreciated.
“So, we don’t take it for granted whatsoever,” he said. “Got the best fans in America, and it is special. I know I’ve been here 11 years now, but I do not take it for granted whatsoever. It is awesome. So, I want to thank the fans.”
It gets much tougher for Penn State next week. PSU takes on No. 24 Illinois, who moved to 4-0 by upsetting No. 22 Nebraska on the road Friday night in overtime. That game is Homecoming, and it’s set to kick off at 7:30.
This game is also likely to draw a bigger crowd than Kent State. Last year’s night game against Iowa drew 110,830, which was, at the time, the second-highest attendance in Beaver Stadium history. That would be eclipsed by Penn State-Michigan less than two months later.
