When the Eastern football team travels to College Park, Pa., Saturday to face nationally-ranked No. 12 Penn State, Beaver Stadium will be an atmosphere unlike anything most players have seen.

But not everyone.

Senior quarterback Jake Christensen and senior kicker Austin Signor were members of the 2007 Iowa Hawkeyes squad that made the trip to Beaver Stadium.

Likewise, the Panthers have a few players used to Big Ten atmospheres, including senior offensive tackle Otis Hudson and sophomore running back Jimmy Potempa.

Junior running backs Mon Williams and Chevon Walker come from the Southeastern Conference’s Florida Gators, which plays in the more than 88,000 capacity Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

So what can the rest of the Eastern players expect when they step into the 107,282-capacity Beaver Stadium, the biggest non-auto racing stadium in North America?

“Real loud,” said Christensen, who threw for 146 yards and a touchdown in his first appearance there. “There’s going to be guys that are nervous. That’s the nature of the beast. It’s a big place and some of the guys have never seen anything like that. It’s OK to be awestruck at first. But we just have to realize they put their pants on the same way we do. We just have to go out and play football the way we can.”

Not only is Beaver Stadium big, it’s also been host to the dominance Penn State has displayed during the years. Nearly 300 games have been played there since it opened in 1960, and the Nittany Lions have 239 wins all-time there. The student section alone is twice the size of O’Brien Field, seating 21,000 fans.

Potempa played his first year of college football for the Michigan Wolverines, who play in a stadium slightly smaller than Beaver Stadium.

The Wolverines’ Big House seats 106,201, and Potempa said the atmosphere the Panthers should expect Saturday is unexplainable.

“We have to play our best game, but I think we can compete,” he said. “It’s going to be really loud. I don’t even know how to explain it.”

Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said the atmosphere will be unique for his players, but the number of transfers from big programs should help the process.

“I think it might help things because they’re used to the environment,” Spoo said. “They won’t be awestruck even though the surrounding cast might be a little bit. After the first couple of plays we should settle down and get in the workings of the game.”

Even if the Nittany Lions don’t sell out Saturday’s game, it should easily be the biggest crowd to see the Panthers play in program history.

The top crowd to see the Panthers play entering Saturday is the Sept. 6, 2008, game against Illinois in Champaign, which totaled 60,131.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.

Quarterback Jake Christensen throws a pass during Saturday’s 36-31 loss to Eastern Kentucky at O’Brien Field. Christensen played four years at Iowa. Christensen played at Penn State in 2007. (Eric Hiltner/The Daily Eastern News)

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