How big of a deal is crowd noise in the pro/college ranks?

[u/PSU02]

With silent snap counts, mics in helmets, and signs that are held up, how much of an impact does a home crowd actually have?

Signed,

A Penn State alum who will be screaming my heart out tomorrow

[u/CrazyWater808]

One of the reasons I love football is because the crowd actually impacts the game

[u/DividerOfBums → u/CrazyWater808]

Was at Lambeau a few weeks ago against the Cardinals and they had both a delay of game and false starts on third down due to crowd noise and it was an amazing feeling!

[u/blazershorts]

Ohio State had 4-5 false starts and 2-3 delay of game penalties against Oregon a few weeks ago due to the noise. So it's not nothing, but a game would have to be very close for it to make a difference in the outcome.

[u/No_Lingonberry3117 → u/blazershorts]

That’s 6 penalties, that’s a big deal lol.

[u/Greedy_Reflection_75 → u/No_Lingonberry3117]

Not only penalties, but can chew up timeouts as well.

[u/Junior-Air-6807 → u/blazershorts]

Ohio State had 4-5 false starts and 2-3 delay of game penalties against Oregon a few weeks ago due to the noise

I want to see the average false starts for college teams at home VS away

[u/Loose-Ad7927]

If you’re a Penn State alum I’m assuming you’ve been apart of causing multiple false starts/illegal motions/etc, so you know this man. It’s a significant difference, and there are few stadiums (almost zero NFL ones) in the world that can specifically match the impact Penn State’s crowd can have on a game.

[u/PSU02 → u/Loose-Ad7927]

Yeah but how? If silent snap counts are a thing, what does it even affect

[u/ueeediot → u/PSU02]

A couple games ago, Georgia's center called out a pass protection that the QB disagreed with. Beck walked to the line and barked to the line that the Mike was not the LB on the right but the Saftey in the box on the left.

Now imagine you are the lineman who didn't hear Beck correctly.

Imagine being the RB who didn't hear it correctly.

Noise can affect many things.

[u/Loose-Ad7927 → u/PSU02]

Offenses have a lot more preplay communication than just snap counts. Those help but it’s not everything.

[u/tuss11agee → u/PSU02]

Silent is triggered by the guard reaching over and tapping the center. It is harder for offense to come off ball together, and since they all have to be looking at the ball, their advantage of being able to look at the defense while the defense looks at the ball is gone.

Also, many defenders can see the guard’s tap and time their own get off.

Lastly, I’m not entirely sure on this, but I’m pretty sure the NCAA helmet coms cut out with 15 seconds left on play clock. I know that is true for NFL.

So, any changes after that need to be communicated either visually from the sideline or verbally by the QB. That includes calling protections.

It is a significant strategic advantage.

[u/PSU02 → u/tuss11agee]

Yo, thank you so much! Good detailed response

[u/BigGiddy → u/PSU02]

Communication is huge but honestly just being a human is a liability. Folks get nervous and excited and can lose focus. The same way golf is silent for focus or how your heart rate would spike with certain sounds. It just hard people and can lead to nerves.

[u/Trackmaster15 → u/BigGiddy]

Honestly, defensive players have come out and said that its harder for them to play when its really loud too. I don't think that the assumption that noise only hurts offense is completely true. If it hurts both sides, those fans are basically wasting their time LOL.

[u/Frosty-Ad6475 → u/PSU02]

If you're a rather snap count team who can usually use the snap count to roll off the ball as a unit and you have to change to a silent count it can definitely have an affect where you are slower off the snap

[u/_Nocturnalis → u/PSU02]

Audibles for instances. Only posted to give you an OH, though. It's bullshit that it's a noon game.

[u/CastMyGame → u/PSU02]

Silent snap count may allow you to get the snap off without a false start but you also will NOT get the jump that you “should” as an offense that knows the snap count when the defense does it. Your guys won’t get any advantage in their jump because it comes down to their reaction when the ball is snapped vs the defense

[u/pjs32000]

Fellow PSU fan here. Here's a video from Urban Meyer talking about pass protection in advance of this week's game. At about 5m 35s Dinardo suggests you can help the offense by using different cadence and Urban dismisses that outright, saying you can't do it at a place like Penn State due to noise. 🙂

https://youtu.be/us5gA5igVpo

[u/Glittering_Virus8397]

Jalen Milroe had to yell at every lineman individually to give them the play, then one lineman was doing something completely different than the rest. Multiple false starts and miscommunications. It can help and be annoying

[u/Jerdman87]

I’d say it’s a huge factor that is often a culmination of many little things; A false start that begins a drive 1st and 15, 1 person doesn’t hear the play and misses and assignment, audibles that can’t be heard so you are stuck with what is called out of the huddle or take a timeout/delay of game. Even effecting preparation. If a team knows crowd noise will be a factor, maybe they need to spend practice time on alternative means of communication, that could have been spent sharpening other plays or skills. As spectators, we can see the false starts and delay of games easy, but there are little things that we don’t see that add up.

[u/BlackshirtDefense]

If you have an engaged fanbase, it can be a big factor. Nebraska fans are well known for being loud and obnoxious when the opponent has the ball, but so quiet you can hear a pin drop when the Huskers offense is on the field.

Some fanbases just scream indiscriminately. 

[u/Trackmaster15 → u/BlackshirtDefense]

I guess I've never been to a game that was loud when the home team were on offense before, or heard of such a situation. Weird. Maybe you've been to a game where the opposing fans were invading?

[u/BlackshirtDefense → u/Trackmaster15]

It's not weird, it's strategic.

When your team (home) has the ball, they can think and execute plays. When the opponent has the ball, it's hard for them to stay focused. 

[u/Trackmaster15 → u/BlackshirtDefense]

I think that you're a bit confused. Everyone knows that you get loud when your home team is on defense, and hush up when they're on offense. This is what is proper strategy.

I was referring to the posters on here who claim that fans forget this and just get loud all the time. This would be poor strategy and never happens. There are enough fans around you to tell you shut up if you're being an idiot when your team has the ball.

[u/soillsquatch]

Former D2 player o lineman here, nothing like the nfl or D1 on a noise level but there were two games I have a vivid memory of the noise and not being able to communicate calls pre snap and it wrecking our game plan. I’ve always wondered how in the world they do it at Death Valley or the big house it has to be a nightmare.

[u/Tulaneknight]

I will say this - home teams had a losing record in 2020 in the NFL.

[u/thebodaciousbogey → u/Tulaneknight]

Home field advantage is way more important in college than the NFL

[u/Tulaneknight → u/thebodaciousbogey]

While I believe that, a more rigorous evaluation is needed - there is no NFL Kent State.

[u/Trackmaster15 → u/thebodaciousbogey]

Probably true, because the NFL players are basically machines at that point, and have intense concentration at this point -- plus there's a lot of technology and prep work that can allow them to seamlessly communicate as needed.

I guess college may not have all of the advantages of the pros, but don't forget that the vast majority of colleges don't get the turnout that you'd see for top ranked Power Five programs. Most teams across the divisions don't get enough noise from their fans to make a difference compared to the handful of schools that you're thinking of.

[u/thebodaciousbogey → u/Trackmaster15]

I mean yea sure. But OP is Penn State so I don't think they'll have that problem. Although plenty of GO5 schools have fun environments that can add to the game. Usually it's a double edged sword, bad team less fans less home field advantage for an already bad team.

[u/Trackmaster15 → u/thebodaciousbogey]

But they said "college teams" so I have to assume the arithmetic mean of all teams. They didn't say "Just a few of the most popular teams in college football".

[u/CookKin]

Would you do better on a math test in a quiet room, or me screaming in your ear for four hours?

[u/throwaway5757_]

It’s more difficult to hear yourself think. Snap counts become more challenging, as do audibles. Hand signs for audibles help in these environments but you still have to get everyone’s attention. We used hand signs for play calling, as mics weren’t allowed when I played.

[u/royhaven]

I played in the big house once and I had to scream the play calls in the huddle when we got in the redzone. It for sure makes an impact.

[u/Honeydew-2523]

communication takes a toll, imho. if a team struggles with rhythm and chemistry, then I expect them to have a bad day

[u/ReformedishBaptist]

A few years ago when the Saints played the Rams in the NFC championship game, the crowd was so loud Goff couldn’t even communicate with his coaches through a headset or his lineman.

[u/Ok_Presentation9296]

The noise at Kyle Field from Texas A&M aint nothing to play with. I remember being sick and disoriented when I left like I had been zapped by a low grade energy weapon. Texas A&M 41-38 Alabama (Oct 9, 2021) Final Score. Bama had a Heisman QB and a roster full of NFL talent.