Penn State preps for Purdue, practices inside because of weather

It was so loud at Beaver Stadium during the whiteout on Saturday, Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller struggled to communicate with his offense. The Buckeyes had a false start penalty and coach Urban Meyer burned timeout in the first 10 minutes.

Apparently it was so loud, Matt McGloin was having communication issues too.

Yes, even at his home stadium.

"It's probably the only place in the country where at home you use a silence cadence," McGloin said Wednesday.

That was just one issue in Penn State's 35-23 loss to Ohio State on Saturday. It's an issue the Lions won't have to worry about for some time - or at least this Saturday when they travel to Purdue, which has been averaging about 50,000 less fans than Beaver Stadium this year.

Other factors that played into Penn State's loss will be figured out at practice this week. Though Hurricane Sandy has changed plans up a bit.

Inclimate weather -- it's been cold and rainy in State College -- forced the Nittany Lions to practice in Holuba Hall on Monday and Tuesday.

Though at his weekly press conference on Wednesday (postponed a day because of the hurricane) Bill O'Brien said he hopes to practice outside on the turf on Wednesday.

Good for the Lions. Rowdy fans might not be as big of an issue (the Boilermakers are 0-4 in Big Ten play), but the weather might be.

"Purdue is probably going to be cold, rainy, one of those environments," McGloin said. "We haven't really been able to get a feel for that. We can't control that and we'll just have to adjust for that Saturday if we can get outside during the week."

As for the crowd noise? Well, the Lions are preparing for that anyway. It's something they need to figure out.

"We're practicing with the loud music," sophomore wide receiver Allen Robinson said. "As a team we have to be prepared for anything. Even though their crowd noise might not be ridiculously loud, I think the music (in practice) allows us to focus in."

-Emily Kaplan