Happy Valley charming, until kickoff

The Big Ten is a nice sampling of middle America.

For every Chicago there's a Champaign, for every West Lafayette there's a Minneapolis. Columbus is a large city, while Bloomington isn't touched by an Interstate highway.

Ann Arbor and Madison are comfortably big. You're always aware you're in a college town when you're there.

Then there's Penn State. It's the hardest place in the Big Ten to reach from just about anywhere else in the league, and unlike its 10 conference brothers, it's in the East instead of the Midwest. Yet, it somehow fits.

If you fly into State College, the first thing of note you see as you drive the narrow two-lane road into town is Beaver Stadium. It is monstrous, an erector set gone wild with seating for more than 107,000 and standing room for a few thousand more.

The stadium has been enlarged repeatedly over the years. It looks disjointed, and isn't one of college football's most attractive venues. Plus, it couldn't look any more out of place in its mountain valley setting.

But then you're there, and it all seems to work.

Pennsylvania has the sixth-largest population of any U.S. state. The third-largest “city” in the state tonight will be Beaver Stadium, siphoning people from every direction.

Tradition matters in Happy Valley. Joe Paterno and his team joined thousands of their fans last night in a pep rally in the basketball arena. Friday night pep rallies are Penn State.

Paterno is a tradition unto himself, 44 years as head coach and 60 seasons on the Penn State coaching staff. Where else is that possible in big-time sports? Here, it seems normal, maybe even logical.

Tradition and history still mean something in some places. For instance, there's the Berkey Creamery, not a long walk from the stadium.

The Creamery has been part of Penn State since 1896. It's operated by the university's College of Agricultural Services. You'll see old people go there on game days with their Penn State-enrolled grandkids to choose from about 100 flavors of ice cream, including Peachy Paterno.

People will come from nearby Port Matilda and Buffalo Run and faraway Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to see the zillionth big football game played in Beaver Stadium. They're coming for the traditions, but mostly, they'll be there for what they consider deeply serious business.

Tonight's game is put-up-or-shut-up for Penn State and, to a slightly lesser degree, for Iowa.

Who are these two teams? Are these true Big Ten title contenders and maybe something even larger? Or are they teams with offenses with enough warts to prevent their fine defenses from carrying them to special seasons?

Someone will shine under the lights and all that white tonight. Someone will fade.

No one, including the coaching staffs, the players, and any Las Vegas line-setter, knows how this thing will play out. The only sure thing is, unlike Happy Valley itself, this game won't be charming. This will be smash-mouth football with the strongest and strongest-minded team prevailing.

Which, come to think of it, also is a Penn State tradition.