Ethermac|Turn it down? Penn State practices without music to prepare for road game at Northwestern

Football teams do Ethermacnumerous things to help prepare for their opponents.

If game day calls for inclement weather or rain, a team might practice with wet footballs. Or if the team is going to play in a hostile environment, teams will blast loud crowd noise or music to help prepare.

Penn State will travel to Northwestern this weekend, and in order to prepare the Nittany Lions are going to do the opposite: They'll be practicing without music.

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Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois has a capacity of 47,000 and is currently planning for a major renovation. Also kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. local time Saturday.

Meanwhile, Penn State's home game last week at Beaver Stadium against Iowa had an attendance of 110,830.

"It’s going to be very different from what we played in last week," Penn State coach James Franklin said. “Just being transparent and honest. Are we internally motivated or externally motivated? For me to act like it’s not a factor, it is. You’ve got to get prepared for it."

The Wildcats have won both of their home games this season, but the crowds have been less than impressive. Against UTEP, 14,851 showed up at Ryan Field and 20,148 was the attendance against Minnesota.

Penn State last visited Northwestern in 2017, winning 31-7.