College football has many traditions that make each school unique.
Traditions like Howard’s Rock at Clemson, where the Tigers run down the hill after rubbing a rock for good luck. The rock came from Death Valley, Calif., and was a gift for former coach Frank Howard. He used it as a doorstop until 1966, when a booster placed it on top of the hill in one of the end zones. The players and coaches rub the rock for good luck before games.
Texas A&M has the Midnight Yell Practice. This started for the football team in 1931. Aggie fans would come to Kyle Field at midnight of game days and have their version of a pep rally. This is organized by the Corps of Cadets and others that attend include the band.
Iowa has started one of the best new traditions this year. At the end of first quarters at Kinnick Stadium, fans, coaches and players all wave to a children’s hospital across the street. Michigan State hosted the Hawkeyes this season and the Spartans would show the hospital and waved to the children.
As great as these other traditions are, nothing compares to a Penn State White Out.
Like many traditions, the White Out had modest beginnings. In 2004, the Nittany Lions struggled, and the student section was quiet. Guido D’Elia wondered if he could get everyone to wear one color. He wanted to find a way to unite the students. The marketing team only had two weeks to plan it because they worried about the weather. They would use flyers and rallies to get the word out.
Despite a 20-13 loss to Purdue, the White Out worked. Students came to the game all dressed in white.
The following year the country started to pay attention. The Nittany Lions played Ohio State on ESPN. Penn State linebacker Dan Connor played in the 2005 game. Connor said, “The noise was actually vibrating through my facemask.”
It was so loud that the west dorms two miles away had to shut their windows. Buckeye offensive lineman T.J. Dowling admitted that he couldn’t hear fellow lineman Nick Mangold from two feet away. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said that Penn State had the “best student section in the country.” Penn State won 17-10.
The White Out didn’t spread throughout Beaver Stadium until 2007. Many of the 110,078 fans came in white to watch the Nittany Lions beat Notre Dame 31-10.
Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer believes it is one of “the top five atmospheres in college football.” Meyer admitted that he “wished they’d save the White Out for other games” before last season’s 24-21 Nittany Lion win. The win featured the signature play of all the White Out games – the blocked field goal by safety Marcus Allen and the 60-yard touchdown return by cornerback Grant Hailey.
This year’s White Out will be next Saturday, when Michigan faces the third-ranked Nittany Lions.
There may be rain, but there will be noise.
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