Paterno acknowledges the State College crowd in 2005. (AP/File)
People in Pennsylvania would favor renaming Penn State's Beaver Stadium after Joe Paterno, a new poll released Friday shows.
According to a Quinnipiac survey conducted earlier this month, 46 percent of 1,256 registered voters surveyed would favor naming the stadium after Paterno, the school's legendary football coach who died in January.
However, 40 percent of those surveyed were opposed to renaming Beaver Stadium, which honors James Beaver, a former Pennsylvania governor who served on Penn State's board of trustees. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
Among college football fans surveyed, the poll found a majority (55 percent) favored renaming the stadium in Paterno's honor, while nonfans opposed the idea (44 percent to 37 percent). Fifty-one percent of voters over the age of 65 supported the renaming, while just 32 percent opposed it, Quinnipiac said.
Paterno was fired last November after sexual abuse allegations against his former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky rocked the school. Paterno died on Jan. 22 of complications from lung cancer. He was 85.
According to a report by the school's board released earlier this week, Paterno's lack of swift action after learning of Sandusky's alleged abuse "constituted failure of leadership."
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