12/23/2023 0 Comments Penn state white out game 2021Peering out the back of the press box as fans filter into the stadium from every direction in all-white everything on Saturday all builds up to kickoff. Watching as thousands of people roll into town on Thursday and Friday and grocery shop for their tailgates while the fight song blares in the produce department once was jarring but now feels normal. There’s a buzz throughout campus all week and countless football jersey sightings by the end of it. It’s probably because I see it up close as it unfolds in the days before the game. ![]() I’ve been covering the Nittany Lions for more than a decade, and I’ve seen the I dotted in Columbus, witnessed the heartfelt wave at Kinnick Stadium and even taken in all the houndstooth-fueled craziness that is Saturday in Tuscaloosa, but there’s just something extra special about the White Out. The Tigers and their fans are going to be in for a treat, as I suspect Penn State fans will be juiced after a year away from this special atmosphere they’ve created. 18 against Auburn is what I’m most looking forward to. No offense to the cardboard cutouts, but there was no game-day atmosphere to soak in, no fans popping up from their seats to scream about a play and, of course, no White Out.įor all that the return of college football will bring this season, seeing fans back in Beaver Stadium and introducing an SEC crowd to the White Out on Sept. There were countless times I caught myself watching warmups thinking just how surreal it was that Ohio State was standing on the opposite end of the field and besides parents, scouts and reporters, nobody else was inside to experience it. Last season was all about staying in assigned seats, while the fanfare that makes college football and Beaver Stadium especially come to life was shelved. ![]() Yes, the press box will sway when the crowd jumps up and down, and the open windows can help pump in the crowd noise, but there’s something to be said for briefly soaking in this spectacle, something I walk across the stadium to stand amongst the crowd and do every White Out. I go through this maze of people every year because staying in the press box can often shield the media from the energy that brings the White Out to life. The latest installment of #PennState’s White Out entrance /tON4N1lDun I could’ve been plowed over by a sousaphone that day, and although it was a close call - almost as close as the time I nearly stepped on some of the unlit fireworks on the Beaver Stadium roof before another White Out - I made it to the opposite side of the stadium well before Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” began. I looked up and there they were, just inches from my head, hyping each other up and charging out of the tunnel minutes before the Nittany Lions would exit the locker room behind me and do the same. My goal was to get from the press box to the opposite side of the stadium to capture some pregame White Out magic from the crowd, and it was a good thing I stopped when I did or else I would have been flattened by the Blue Band. Trying to traverse the concourse on any game day is a challenge. As I weaved through the Beaver Stadium concourse in 2018 when life was normal and a football Saturday meant 100,000-plus people pouring into town from all corners of the state and beyond, I looked up from my phone and immediately stopped. The last couple of years, Penn State has saved the whiteout for their games against Michigan & Ohio State.Editor’s note: This is part of a series of personal essays celebrating 50 things we’re looking forward to in college football leading up to the Week 1 kickoffs Sept. 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.Īs 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 Auburn game in September is a very strong candidate, but the Michigan game in November could be as well. So now the question comes, could we possibly see 2 WHITEOUT games in 2021? Once again, it seems entirely likely. The last time Penn State had two night home games was in 2019, which were wins over Buffalo and, naturally, Michigan. ![]() Take a look ahead to the month of November, when the Michigan Wolverines make their way into Happy Valley. ![]() But will we see a second night game at Beaver Stadium in 2021? As of now, Penn State has one confirmed night game which is set for Week 3 against the Auburn Tigers on September 18, 2021.
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