Why Nittany Lions vs Buckeyes is not a White Out game

On By Littum

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Penn State football finds itself with its biggest home game of the 2024 college football regular season in Week 10.

The opponent is none other than Nittany Lions Big Ten Conference rival No. 4 Ohio State — a game that has significant implications surrounding the Big Ten championship game and the College Football Playoffs.

It is a game where both teams are ranked in the top five US LBM Coaches Polland has every opportunity to be Penn State’s annual White Out game. In fact, Penn State has hosted Ohio State for its White Out game five times in the history of its total White Outs.

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But that’s not the case in 2024, as the Nittany Lions look to keep their undefeated season alive as Buckeyes travel to Happy Valley and Beaver Stadium.

Here’s what you need to know about why Penn State-Ohio State isn’t a “White Out,” including when the Nittany Lions will hold their “White Out” this season:

Is Penn State-Ohio State a White Out?

No, Penn State vs. Ohio State is not the Nittany Lions’ White Out game for the 2024 college football season — although Saturday’s game will have the same game feel.

In fact, Penn State fans haven’t been afraid to throw in their two cents on the fact that Saturday’s game isn’t a White Out or being played at night.

Why isn’t Penn State-Ohio State a White Out?

The reason Saturday’s Big Ten heavyweight matchup between Penn State and Ohio State isn’t the Nittany Lions’ White Out game appears to be due to television rights.

Although it wasn’t announced until last week, the Nittany Lions-Buckeyes game was the likely choice for Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” in Week 10, compared to the Big Ten’s 3:30 PM ET game on CBS or 7:30 PM ET game on NBC. At this point in the college football regular season, kickoff time and television channel information are not released until the week before.

According to Athletics’ Audrey Snyder, Saturday’s game was not selected among the top four picks by the networks in their quote on quote “Network College Football Draft.”

“This game was on the board for us at No. 5 when we have three consecutive picks, and there’s just no way I can allow this game to fall to the eighth pick,” Fox president of insights and analytics Mike Mulvihill told The Athletic. “It would almost be malpractice on my part. Considering the draft played out the way it did, it was just obvious we had to take it.”

He added, “It’s our job to put the schools that we partner with in front of as many people as possible. If we can give our schools as much exposure as possible, it should not only benefit Fox, but it should benefit them What we’ve found over the last 6 years is that it’s very clear that putting our best games on at noon is what delivers the biggest audiences for those games.”

What is a White Out?

Self-explanatory: All fans inside the stadium wear white.

While games like the “White Out” occur throughout all of college football and college athletics, Penn State is famously known for this game on its schedule every year. Each year, the Nittany Lions choose the biggest home game of the season — traditionally against a top-ranked opponent — to make Beaver Stadium one of the toughest environments in college football.

“EA Sports College Football 25” had Beaver Stadium ranked No. 6 in the hardest places to play.

  1. Players from opposing teams must wear jerseys in contrasting colors Players from the same team must wear jerseys of the same color and design
  2. The visiting team must wear white jerseys; however, the home team may wear white shirts if the teams have agreed this in writing before the season
  3. If the home team is wearing colored jerseys, the away team may also wear colored jerseys if and only if the following two conditions are met:
    • The home team has agreed in writing prior to the match; and
    • The home team’s conference confirms that the visiting team’s shirt is a contrasting colour
  4. If either team at kickoff at the start of each half wears a colored jersey in violation of the above conditions, it is an unsportsmanlike conduct violation

However, Penn State has to wear its home uniforms for the White Outs, compared to wearing their road whites. 4, article 5, subsection 3 statistics from the NCAA Football Rule Book:

When is Penn State Football’s White Out in 2024?

The Nittany Lions will hold their annual White Out game for the 2024 season next week against newly named Big Ten opponent Washington. A time for the game has not been determined, as well as which of the ten major television partners will carry the game.

Using last year’s report from York Daily ReportPenn State is 9-6 in all-stadium White Out games and 11-8 overall (including student-only White Outs).

Here’s what last year’s White Out for Penn State against then-No. 24 Iowa at Beaver Stadium looked like:

Next Saturday’s meeting against Huskies will be the first meeting between both programs since the 2017 Fiesta Bowl, when Penn State beat Washington 35-28. The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series against the Huskies 3-0, according to Penn State’s media guide.

Penn State announced its nationally known White Out Game for next week’s game against Washington back in July when it announced matchday themes for the entire 2024 football season.