Kevin Wilkinson

Penn State gears up for the first white-out game of the season on Saturday, Sep. 23rd. The game kicks off at 6:40pm at Beaver Stadium at University Park, Pennsylvania. 

This game promises to be held in a sold out Beaver stadium full to the brim of white shirts. A lot of confidence going into this game for the Nittany Lions as they stand at 3-0, ranked 7th, and are fresh off of a 30-13 W over Illinois.

At a white-out game, the Penn State football team and student body shows out in the masses, decked in all-white clothing in show of support for their home colors of white and blue. This will be the 17th edition of the iconic white-out game. According to pennlive.com, Penn State’s white-out game against Auburn in 2021 saw a total attendance of 109,958, making that one of the largest attendances of an event in Beaver stadium history. It was the first white-out game since 2019, when the Nittany Lions hosted the Michigan Wolverines, at one point forcing them to call a time-out due to the volume the stadium, which reached 107.7 decibels, the equivalent of a roaring snowmobile.

The white-out game originated in 2004, in Penn State’s student section. Then in 2007, it became an entire stadium ordeal according to sbnation.com. At first, students wanted to try multiple color schemes, not just the white; they tried a “code blue” where all students wore blue. Students would go around to each dorm room and tell other students what color shirt to wear. White became the fan favorite, and the first official white-out game was against Purdue where more than 20,000 students decked in white crowded the stadium.

According to Sports Illustrated, Penn State’s, Drew Allar, QB is averaging 256 yards passing through 3 games. That sets up what should be a box-office display on offense as they like to take deep shots and go for the big plays. Penn State opens the game as the favorite (according to fan-duel), a confident showing in the Nittany Lions.

A lot of expectations for the Nittany Lions going into this one, but this is no unknown ground for veteran and beloved coach James Franklin. Franklin most likely will be speaking on the upcoming game in this week’s press conferences. The stage is set for what should be one of the most exciting events for Penn State students this year.