Funny Iowa Band Joke Confuses Hawyeye Fans

At many B1G schools the band has been known to create many inside jokes that involve quick sayings or dances during games. Penn State has become famous for it’s “We Are Penn State” chant and it is now even said during the stadium anthem Zombie Nation. Well, this past weekend the Iowa Band was filmed while the stadium played Zombie Nation and fans were left very confused. Take a watch and then we’ll explain what’s going on.

So I spent 5min of 1st Half embedded w/ #Iowa Band. Zombie Nation plays and Band chants "We are #PennState " -huh?? pic.twitter.com/sIicOUpez9

— Rob Michel (@RobMichel) November 15, 2015

B1G bands are very much aware that Zombie Nation is Penn State’s “thing”. So instead of chanting their own school’s name they like to chant “We Are Penn State” in some what of a friendly mocking way, but also as a way to signal to the stadium crew that, hey this chant really isn’t our thing its Penn State’s thing. Some B1G schools chant “We’re Not Penn State”. We know of at least 6 other B1G bands that do this chant when Zombie Nation comes on. We think it’s more of a sign of respect to the Nittany Lions than anything else. If you’ve ever been to a Penn State game you know that when it comes on it is really impressive to see the whole stadium jumping and chanting along.

Unfortunately for Hawkeye fans, they may never know the real reason why the band chants “We Are Penn State” and that’s what makes band jokes that much better.