STATE COLLEGE, Pa (Reuters) ? At first glance it was a normal Saturday football home game at Penn State's Beaver stadium.
Hotels were full in State College and the stadium that seats more than 100,000 fans was packed. Before and after the game, thousands of fans wearing the team color of blue were tailgating outside, some munching on barbecue and drinking beer. The marching band played the school fight song.
But look again and it was clear something was amiss on a cold autumn day. A sign posted outside the stadium assured fans that a bomb threat on Friday night had been checked out thoroughly and that extra security was in place.
The football team walked slowly into the stadium arm-in-arm rather than running aggressively as usual. The two teams gathered at the center of the field and shared a moment of silence before the game and after the game.
And strangest of all -- for the first time in nearly half a century, legendary head coach Joe Paterno was not there.
Some fans sobbed in the stands as they recalled the worst scandal in Penn State history, after charges of serial sexual abuse against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky were announced exactly a week ago.
Like dominos, the scandal has brought down Paterno, an assistant football coach, the president of the university, the athletic director and his top finance aid as authorities probe
a possible coverup.
In State College, sheets hung from university dorms saying, "We are still Penn State," a version of the Penn State pride chant, now more a call for unity in adversity. Fans decided to wear blue to remember child abuse victims rather than the traditional "white-out."
The decision to go ahead with the game was controversial and police were out en masse. School officials admitted on Friday that they had considered canceling the game against the University of Nebraska.
The moment of silence before the game was "for all those who have suffered from child abuse," according to the announcer.
Steve Sampsell of Port Matilda, Pa., and five friends and family members were holding a free chili cook off fund-raiser at their tailgate, hoping to raise money for child abuse prevention.
"We just felt desperate," Sampsell said, describing his reaction when he first learned of the allegations. "We're invested in what this place is, which is tough."
On a makeshift sign, the group said they were praying for the child sex abuse victims and "for some good to come from this."
Sue Whitley, 52, a Penn State graduate from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, seemed relieved that the game was played without incident.
"I think ... if there had been a problem it would have reflected on Penn State. But everybody was fine. Everybody behaved," she said.
Some students started a chant of "JoePa," "JoePa," referring to the beloved Paterno, whose firing on Wednesday had sparked protests in the streets of State College. Some people posted on twitter that the chant of support was inappropriate because Paterno had not told police about the abuse when he heard about it from a graduate assistant.
Penn State's football team seemed out of sorts during the first half, falling behind 10 to 0. But they rallied in the second half and fell just short of victory, losing to Nebraska 17 to 14.
"It was a normal Penn State game -- lousy offense, great defense," Whitley said.
(Editing by James B. Kelleher and Greg McCune)
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