Tag: Whiteout

Penn State’s whiteout game for 2023 is confirmed

Penn State’s whiteout game in 2023 will get the national spotlight with new Big Ten media partner

As is the tradition in the happiest of valleys in central Pennsylvania every fall, one Saturday between the months of September and November will be designated for all who make the pilgrimage to Beaver Stadium for a contest on the gridiron will be dressed in white. Of course, we are talking about the annual Penn State football whiteout game, and the date for this year’s signature event has been confirmed. It will also be featured in primetime with one of the Big Ten’s new media partners beginning this season.

Penn State announced its home game against the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday, September 23 will air in primetime on CBS with an 8 pm kickoff. And, much to the delight of CBS producers, the game will be this season’s marquee whiteout game, which looks absolutely stunning on TV. This will be the first time CBS has to share the experience with its viewers.

This is the second primetime game locked in for Penn State this season, and its first as part of the CBS programming. Penn State’s season opener against West Virginia will also air in primetime on NBC. That game has been confirmed for a “helmet stripe” game in Beaver Stadium with the majority of fans dressing in white with one strip of fans to wear blue to mimic Penn State’s traditional football helmet design.

CBS also announced its coverage of the Penn State-Iowa game will be available on its streaming platform, Paramount+.

The Big Ten’s new media rights deal includes a package of games to be split between CBS, NBC, FOX, and Big Ten Network. The 2023 season will mark the end of CBS’ contract with the SEC, but the network will air both SEC and Big Ten games this season.

Penn State is 10-8 all-time in whiteout games in Beaver Stadium. Penn State has won three straight whiteout games and five of the last six it has scheduled. However, Iowa is 1-0 when playing as the visitor for a whiteout game with a victory in 2009.

Penn State also announced a stripeout game for its home game against Michigan later in the season.

Vikings will be iced out for Saturday’s game vs. Giants

The all-whites are coming home on Saturday

The Minnesota Vikings announced a couple of weeks ago that they wanted the fans to wear white for a “Winter Whiteout.” The team wants the fans to all wear white to create a special atmosphere that we see consistently at the college level, more specifically at Penn State. Their whiteouts have become a staple of any college football bucket list.

On Christmas Eve, the Vikings are trying to duplicate that magic, by not only asking the fans to wear white, but for the first time possibly ever, the Vikings will be wearing all white at home themselves.

The Vikings wearing their all-whites will be a fresh look for the home crowd and give the regular season finale a special flair for the Christmas holiday.

Penn State has a massive recruiting weekend for the whiteout game on tap

Penn State reportedly hosting over 100 recruits for the whiteout game vs. Minnesota.

There is no debate the importance of the whiteout game to Penn Stae’s recruiting strategy. The premiere primetime atmosphere showcased by Penn State has a way of leaving a grand impression on potential recruits, especially if the Nittnay Lions can come away with a nice win at the same time. Penn State will have that opportunity Saturday night when they host Minnesota for this year’s edition of the whiteout game, and there will be a large number of recruits taking in the scene.

How big is this weekend? Pretty darn big.

According to Ryan Snyder of On3, Penn State is hosting over 100 recruits for the whiteout game on Saturday night, and the list continued to grow Saturday morning. As to be expected, a good portion of those recruits has yet to make a decision on their college destination in the Class of 2023 or Class of 2024.

Penn State is probably working on lining up a nice crowd for next week’s home game against Ohio State, which is always a big date on the home schedule, but there is something to be said about the whiteout environment. even if fans have voiced their displeasure with using the whiteout game against the Gophers, there is still an excellent chance to leave a great impression for any recruit looking to see what Penn State is like for a home game under the lights.

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The social media history of Penn State Whiteouts

A quick social media look back at the Penn State Whiteout.

The Penn State Whiteout is arguably, no, it is the best tradition in not only college sports but all of sports one could argue. A sold-out Beaver Stadium with 106,000 screaming fans and students that make the entire stadium shake, especially the press box.

This year it is rumored the Whiteout game will be played at noon against Ohio State but that could change. Looking back though, the first primetime Whiteout was something special. After rolling out the first student-whiteout in 2004 for a game against Drew Brees and No. 9 Purdue, it was Penn State’s 2005 student whiteout that took things to the next level.

Penn State took on Ohio State in a top ten matchup between the teams in 2005, as Penn State was pulling itself out of some truly forgettable seasons and looking to win back some national respect. The game would get all the bells and whistles including College Gameday coverage.

As far as how the game would go, Penn State would go on to win the game led by then quarterback, current NFL Network analyst [autotag]Michael Robinson[/autotag]. Ohio State was led by Troy Smith, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy the following season but Penn State was able to keep him in check, thanks to the Whiteout conditions the students created for the student-organized whiteout.

Since that moment we have been privy to a ton of fun camera angles, fan views, and reporters being left in shock over the atmosphere the Nittany Lion faithful can create. Thanks to social media we can see some of these moments captured to look back on. And as the whiteout morphed from just a student section gimmick to a full-blown stadium-wide whiteout (the first coming in 2007 against Notre Dame in the first college start for Jimmy Clausen).

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Will Penn State have a noon whiteout? Sure! why not?

Will Penn State use its whiteout for a noon kickoff? You better believe it.

As the kickoff times for a handful of Penn State football games have officially been mapped out over the past week, the suspicion that Penn State’s home game against Ohio State could be slotted for a Big Noon Kickoff is becoming more a real possibility. The idea of playing the most anticipated home game of the regular season in a dreaded noon timeslot has many fans dreading the announcement that will confirm their worst fears, and it has some wondering how Penn State will utilize its signature whiteout event for the schedule.

Let’s take a quick step back and see what exactly is happening with the schedule and where it may go from here.

For a quick refresher, Penn State now has confirmed kickoff times for games against Purdue, Ohio, Auburn, and Minnesota. Penn State’s home game against the Golden Gophers has been locked in for a primetime kickoff on a network to be determined later. The game against Minnesota is also one week before the home game against Ohio State, and there is a growing expectation FOX may try to nab the Penn State-Ohio State game for its October 29 lineup. And a Big Noon Kickoff is what many fans are fearing for the matchup.

Penn State and Ohio State have played in the Big Noon Kickoff on FOX before, doing so in 2019. So the idea of playing this series in the day’s first broadcast window is not unprecedented, as FOX has already gone that route before. And as long as FOX is dedicated to putting the best games it can in the noon timeslot, expect this game to be an attractive draw for that spot on Oct. 29.

Of course, the Penn State-Ohio State series has largely been a primetime draw the majority of the years over the past decade, and it has generally been a terrific visual when played in Beaver Stadium. The national TV cameras love a primetime whiteout in Beaver Stadium. Unfortunately, the whiteout loses some of its visual brilliance when used during the day. The contrast of the white in the stands just doesn’t hit the same way when the sun is out and shining on the denizens in Happy Valley. Sure, it will still look good, but it won’t have the same visual impact.

So, with a home schedule looking like Minnesota is going to be the big primetime game this fall, it seems as though the fear from some fans is Penn State is going to use its whiteout against Minnesota.

Stop. Just stop.

The whiteout is used for the biggest games on the schedule. It shouldn’t matter what time that game starts. The whiteout has a history of being done for home games against Ohio State or Michigan, and there is no reason to suspect that will be different this season. Even if Ohio State is a noon game, Penn State would be wise to still use the whiteout for that particular game.

It would be a shock if Penn State put the whiteout against Minnesota with Ohio State the next week. Perhaps some other visual gimmick could be used for the Minnesota game, like a stripeout. But as far as the whiteout is concerned, it still should be reserved for the biggest game on the home schedule, and that will remain Ohio State in 2022.

Book it. A whiteout is still going to be used for the Ohio State game, regardless of kickoff time.

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Chris Fowler says you have to experience a Penn State whiteout in person

Include Chris Fowler among the many excited to see the return of the Penn State whiteout this weekend vs Auburn.

The countdown is on as we approach the Whiteout hour as Penn State takes on Auburn from Beaver Stadium in the marquee game for Week 3. This game marks the return of the Whiteout, which has not been held in Happy Valley since the 2019 season. Everyone is looking forward to seeing the return of the Whiteout, including the man calling all of the action this weekend for ABC, Chris Fowler.

Chris Fowler spoke to the media on Thursday and he was asked about his opinions on the return of the Whiteout. After calling last season’s home game against Ohio State in an empty Beaver Stadium, Fowler is incredibly excited to see a packed house once again all dressed in white on Saturday night.

Fowler, also keen to the history of the whiteout, reflected on

“I love the way that it kind of organically grew from a student only thing and then this the full stadium, as the story goes the fans sort of demanded it and then they made it happen in a really kind of restrained way. They didn’t want to overplay it overdo it, they wanted to keep it special and rare and once per season and reserved for a big game, and I think once you see it in person for the first time that you can really appreciate it.“

Fowler noted how well the visual translates on television, which is one of the reasons the broadcast crew is excited to be in town for the game.

It’s going to be a fun weekend, and it should be college football at its best.

Chris Fowler excited for return of Penn State’s whiteout vs. Auburn

ESPN’s Chris Fowler is super excited to see the return of Penn State’s whiteout this season.

Every college football fan should have a bucket list of experiences they want to have at least once in their life. A Penn State whiteout should be among the highlighted bucket list items.

ESPN play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler knows just how special a whiteout atmosphere is. So once the word broke that Penn State was bringing back the whiteout for this season’s first-ever regular-season meeting with Auburn, you knew Fowler was going to get some goosebumps. Fowler will be in the broadcast booth in Beaver Stadium to call the action on ABC’s primetime nationally televised game against the SEC program.

Needless to say, Fowler is looking forward to it.

Penn State released their schedule of themes for each home game this season, with the stadium-wide Whiteout the highlight of the season for the Nittany Lions. As Fowler noted, the whiteout is typically used for the alternating home games against Michigan and Ohio State every year. But the big game atmosphere in Week 3 with the national spotlight is too much to pass up, especially after missing out on the whiteout game last season.

It should be noted that Penn State will also have a student section whiteout for the home game against Michigan later in the year, although there is nothing stopping other fans attending the game from joining in the whiteout fun (expect a stadium-wide whiteout for the game anyway).

We know Auburn quarterback Bo Nix is looking forward to his trip to Beaver Stadium. And we know Fowler is too.

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Could we see two Whiteout games at Penn State in 2021?

The Whiteout has been big for Penn State night games at Beaver Stadium. Could we have more than one whiteout game in 2021?

Whenever the schedule comes out for the season, you look to see if you have any home games under the primetime lights. You know the entire nation will be tuned in and Penn State’s Beaver Stadium offers one of the best atmospheres for a night game.

As of now, Penn State has one confirmed night game which is set for Week 3 against the Auburn Tigers on September 18, 2021. But will we see a second night game at Beaver Stadium in 2021?

Take a look ahead to the month of November, when the Michigan Wolverines make their way into Happy Valley. The last time Penn State had two night home games was in 2019, which were wins over Buffalo and, naturally, Michigan.

So now the question comes, could we possibly see 2 WHITEOUT games in 2021? Once again, it seems entirely likely. The Auburn game in September is a very strong candidate, but the Michigan game in November could be as well. If both teams are doing well and are still in the fight for the Big Ten Championship, then it would make plenty of sense for Penn State to enforce a full whiteout if they have not already decided to do so.

As everyone knows, the whiteout is one of the most unique atmospheres in college football and it is one of the signature draws for college football and for network TV.

The last couple of years, Penn State has saved the whiteout for their games against Michigan & Ohio State. Why would this season be any different?

The impact of the Whiteout was felt in 2019 when Michigan had to burn a timeout on the first play of game due to the crowd noise…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VypxiD8GOxY

The Whiteout went nuts when Penn State blocked the Ohio State field goal and Grant Haley returned it for a go-ahead touchdown in the final five minutes against the No. 2 Buckeyes. The win over Ohio State catapulted Penn State into the Big Ten championship game by the end of the year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpTM-q730Kk

It is going to be great to see the Whiteout back in full force which is something we missed during the 2020 season.

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