STATE COLLEGE — The chants started in Beaver Stadium as soon as Kaytron Allen broke the all-time Penn State rushing record early in the fourth quarter.

TERR-Y, TERR-Y, TERR-Y.

Then Allen scored his second touchdown of the night, a 13-yard scamper, to finish up Penn State’s (4-6, 2-6) eventual 37-10 win over Nebraska on Senior Day.

The crowd only crescendoed with each chant of interim head coach Terry Smith’s name. By the time the final whistle blew on Smith and Penn State’s second straight win, the Nittany Lions faithful had made clear how they felt about the former Penn State captain wide receiver’s candidacy for the full-time head coaching job.

The fans, however, were far from alone.

Penn State players mobbed Smith after the Lions defense stopped Nebraska with mere seconds remaining in the game. Then, as the Lions convened with their opponents at midfield, many Penn State players got hold of papers that read “Hire Terry Smith” in bold, black lettering. They paraded them through the crowd of team personnel and shoved them in the face of every camera they could find.

Offensive lineman Anthony Donkoh had perhaps the most ringing endorsement. He made his way onto NBC’s national broadcast and emphatically said, “Hire this man immediately.” Safety King Mack took his printout and sprinted through the masses, sharing the message to anyone who would look his way and even a few who wouldn’t.

The Nittany Lions sported wide smiles through the university alma mater before making their way to the locker room. Smith trailed behind for his postgame interview with NBC, where he made the first of what turned into a night full of bids for his candidacy as the next Penn State head coach.

“These guys listen to me. They trust me. And they’re going out there and playing great football,” Smith said. “It’s my locker room.”

As Smith followed his team through the tunnel, with the iconic victory bell ringing for the first time since Sept. 13, the crowd again roared in support of James Franklin’s temporary replacement. It was an overwhelming vote in favor of Penn State removing the “interim” tag from Smith’s title.

TERR-Y, TERR-Y, TERR-Y.

And Smith — who has worn his emotions on his sleeve in his month-plus of time at the helm — pumped both fists in rhythm with the chants. He later walked into the Beaver Stadium media room to heavy applause and cheers from those standing in the second-floor recruiting lounge.

Smith, who came back to his alma mater with Franklin’s first staff in 2014, then continued what he turned into a real-time interview.

Have the past five weeks prepared him more to be a full-time head coach?

“I was always ready to be a head coach. I was a head coach for 12 years in high school. It’s a different level, but leading men is leading men,” Smith said. “Coaching is coaching. It’s no different than when I worked for (Nebraska head coach) Matt Rhule (at Temple) as a receivers coach, and I came here for James Franklin, and I went to defensive backs coach. Coaching is coaching. I went from taking DBs, a DB history here at Penn State that we didn’t put DBs in the NFL, to now we’re one of the tops in the country.

“Coaching is coaching. I’ve always been a head coach, so I’m very confident in what I do. God’s blessed me. My mom has anointed me. My wife keeps a covering over me.

“I have gifts that I don’t even realize I have. I’m a leader of men. You guys see it. You’re witnessing it every day.”

Penn State players who spoke to the media after the win were unsure where the “Hire Terry Smith” signs came from, saying they found them on the sideline as the final whistle blew. Either way, they embraced the moment and made a display in support of their leader that’s impossible to ignore.

“I don’t know where the signs came from, to be honest, but they needed to be up, and they needed to be seen,” senior defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton said. “So I’m glad we had those signs.”

Dennis-Sutton and senior captain defensive tackle Zane Durant were among those who emphatically said they’d like to see Smith selected as the next head coach.

Dennis-Sutton also said that Smith has not been shy about his goals, expressing his interest in the position to players over the past few weeks.

“It sounds like all the players want Terry. All the fans want Terry,” Dennis-Sutton said. “So I think the choice should be very obvious after the season, but that’s above me.”

Penn State and athletic director Pat Kraft still have work to do to determine the next leader of the Nittany Lions. A long list of candidates after Franklin’s Oct. 12 firing has dwindled, and a few of Kraft’s top targets have either pulled themselves out of contention or fallen out with ugly losses on the field.

Thus, the clamoring for Smith may only get louder.

He’s made Penn State look much more like the preseason No. 2 team over the past three games rather than the team that lost six in a row to open Big Ten play. He’s overhauled the offense with a commitment to Allen and vertical passing, while he’s worked with coordinator Jim Knowles to both simplify the defense and increase the unit’s aggression.

That’s a product, players said, of the tough-love conversations Smith is willing to have with his team. It’s become more common for the offense and defense to have film sessions with the entire unit, where Smith will call out both excellent and lacking play regardless of status as a star senior or a little-known freshman.

“He’s brought us back together. He put all the broken pieces back,” captain linebacker Dom DeLuca said. “He did everything he could for us to fight and to change our whole culture. When you lose a head coach midseason, I mean, that hurts. Everything he’s done, he’s a true Penn State guy, too, through and through. Everyone’s behind him, everyone wants to play for him. He gets us fired up, and we love everything about Coach Terry.”

“Coach Terry’s always one of the most honest coaches I’ve ever been around,” Dennis-Sutton said. “That’s why we all love him. We would do anything for him.”

Durant acknowledged postgame that Penn State may have let outside noise surrounding national title aspirations creep into the locker room early on.

“Having huge expectations, I think we kind of got caught up in the extra stuff that we usually didn’t do in the past. That came back to bite us,” he said.

But the senior added Smith has pushed this group to get back to having fun, and the results have shown as much in three straight improved performances.

“He just told us, look, ‘We’re here for one reason. Came here to play football and provide for this university. So why not do it and have fun?’” Durant said. “And we got back doing that. So I think that’s what kept us all tight-knit and together.”

Despite the outpouring of support, it’s still possible and perhaps even likely that Smith is not the next head coach at Penn State. And it’s worth considering how such a staunch self-promotion might be received in the event he doesn’t win the job. Would he still stick around Penn State by essentially accepting a demotion? Would he look to follow Franklin to Virginia Tech?

Was Saturday night’s emotional demonstration Smith’s final walk off the Beaver Stadium turf as a Lions coach?

Those questions will be answered in due time.

And Smith will always have a special moment on his resume, one when fans and players alike — at least for one night — turned Happy Valley into Terry Valley.

“I had the amazing opportunity today to walk in with my granddaughter and experience people chanting her grandfather’s name. How would you feel?” Smith said, referencing “tremendous” support he’s received. He joked that he can’t even get his car washed anymore without being recognized.

“My life’s changed, but it’s all for the good. The thing that motivates me, I’m just keeping my feet on the ground. I’m gonna get this team ready to go beat Rutgers next week. My resume is on display every day that you guys watch us on Saturday. Tell me what you think.”

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