Penn State's White Out games, explained: How 'stroke of genius' became one of college football's best traditions

JUMP TO: 

• How did Penn State's White Out tradition start?
• Why Penn State doesn't wear white uniforms during White Out
• Penn State's record in White Out games
• Best White Out Game moments

In college football, some traditions are seen, but few are felt so viscerally as the Penn State White Out. For one night each season, more than 110,000 souls at Beaver Stadium become a single, roaring force of nature. It’s a sensory assault — a storm of white light and sound that pulses with the rhythm of a hundred thousand hearts beating as one. It doesn’t just intimidate; it consumes, wrapping itself around the opposition in an embrace of pure fanatical energy. 

As ESPN's Chris Fowler put it, the White Out is "monochromatic mayhem."

This isn’t merely a display of team colors, but a testament to a storied program’s identity. Born from a student section's simple idea in 2004, the White Out has evolved into a pilgrimage for fans and a psychological weapon for the team. It is a promise and a threat, a silent agreement among the faithful to raise the decibel level and lower the expectations of any team brave enough to step into the eye of the storm.

For any team that has to play in this legendary atmosphere, the White Out is more than a game; it is a test of a team's will. The opponent will not only have to face a top-tier Penn State team but also the crushing weight of an entire fan base. The stakes are immense, and the atmosphere in Beaver Stadium is a character in itself — waiting, watching, and ready to make its presence known on a national stage.

The Greatest Show In College Sports™ pic.twitter.com/jBMgn08TP5

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) November 7, 2024

But the atmosphere that now envelopes the central Pennsylvania cathedral of college football is a far cry from what Fowler saw growing up.

"Even though Beaver Stadium has changed a lot since when I went there as a kid, I still get a special feeling going back in that place," Fowler told the media Thursday ahead of this year's iteration of the White Out against Auburn. "It wasn't one of the more raucous college crowds back in the 70s.

2⃣ more sleeps pic.twitter.com/7piGfpcgdT

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) September 17, 2021

That's changed in recent years, though, and it's in large part due to the White Out.

"I don't think you would have said Penn State was one of the toughest environments for a road team back in the day back when I was there, but I think it is now," Fowler said. "As the stadium grew, as the student section grew and the students I think over the years that sort of taught the regular fans, how to be involved in the game every play and how to play a part in the outcome by making it a very tough environment. That’s what I think the White Out has been partly responsible for."

Penn State is one of college football's national powerhouses and the White Out is one of the sport's best traditions.

Sporting News has everything you need to know about Happy Valley's annual spectacle.

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How did Penn State's White Out tradition start?

In the early 2000s, Penn State was struggling.

From 2000-05, the Nittany Lions posted just two winning seasons and the fan base was in need of being invigorated.

So one day in 2004, during the throes of the gridiron doldrums in State College, Penn State's former director of communications and branding for football, Guido D'Elia approached Joe Paterno about the idea of a White Out.

Originally meant for just students, it eventually grew into a full stadium affair, with Fowler's friend D'Elia's help.

"I think it was a very inspired idea. I love the way that it kind organically grew from a student-only thing and then 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," Fowler said. "They didn’t want to overplay it, overdo it, they wanted to keep it special, and rare, and once per season and reserve it for a big game."

9.18.21 pic.twitter.com/VKP3ZSJSFj

— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) September 16, 2021

The first official White Out came Oct. 9, 2004 against then-No. 9 Purdue in a game Penn State lost 20-13. The first all-stadium White Out came three years later in 2007 against Notre Dame.

Since then, the annual tradition has grown to become one of the sport's preeminent spectacles, and one which Fowler said is hard to describe.

"Once you see it in person for the first time, you can really appreciate it," Fowler said. "It looks phenomenal on TV and I call it the most telegenic experience in sports, because it's a night game and the stadium is lit up by everybody wearing white, the fireworks and the game ops — everything is just beautifully executed."

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Why Penn State doesn't wear white uniforms during White Out

While most inside Beaver Stadium will be adorning white, James Franklin's squad itself usually wears its classic blue uniforms with white numbers and white pants and black shoes for the White Out game.

The uniforms, none of which have names on the back, have become synonymous with Penn State over the years and though Penn State does wear white jerseys, it's never in the confines of Beaver Stadium, even for a White Out.

The reason, essentially, deals with NCAA rules surrounding dress codes of away teams, who are required to wear white unless the home team receives express written consent prior to the start of the season.

For Penn State to wear white at home, the school would need to agree with its opponent in writing before the season.

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Penn State's record in White Out games

Since the first White Out in Beaver Stadium in 2004, the game is an annual tradition that the college football world anticipates.

Penn State is 13-8 in White Outs and for the first time since 2018, the Nittany Lions will host a top-10 team when Oregon comes to town on Sept. 27. Penn State played one of either Michigan or Ohio State in every White Out from 2012-19.

Penn State currently holds a five-game winning streak in the White Out game. 

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Best White Out Game moments

Oct. 22, 2016: vs. No. 2 Ohio State

Arguably the defining win of James Franklin's career and of the last decade of Penn State football, the Nittany Lions knocked off then-No. 2 Ohio State at home thanks to a blocked field goal by Marcus Allen which then knocked the ball to Grant Haley, who scooped it and scored as they held on to win 24-21 despite being 19.5 point home underdogs.

The play, which game with just over four minutes left in the game, won it for Penn State as the Nittany Lions won the fourth quarter 17-0 after trailing 21-7 after the first half. As a result of the win, the fans stormed the field following the final whistle and riots occurred in downtown State College.

It was the first ranked win of James Franklin's career and was also the first road loss for the Buckeyes under Urban Meyer.

Oct. 12, 2013: vs. No. 18 Michigan

The longest game in Big Ten history, Penn State hosted then No. 18 Michigan and eventually downed the Wolverines 43-40 in quadruple overtime after a touchdown run from Bill Belton ended the game. 

The game was tied at 34 heading into the initial overtime period, where neither team scored. After trading field goals in the second overtime period and neither side scoring in the third OT, Bill Belton eventually ended it on a handoff from quarterback Christian Hackenberg, scoring the winning touchdown.

Coming off a 42-22 loss in Bloomington to Indiana the week before, then-Penn State coach Bill O'Brien said at the time that it was "crazy to expect it would be just another game," as the matchup was both the Homecoming game and the White Out for the Nittany Lions.

O'Brien had lost his first White Out the year before when Penn State fell to then-No. 9 Ohio State 35-23, but O'Brien left his mark and won his final White Out in walkoff fashion.

Oct. 21, 2017: vs. No. 19 Michigan

Easily Penn State's most dominant White Out to date, the Nittany Lions trounced Michigan 42-13 to run their season opening winning streak to seven games.

Ranked No. 2 in the country, a program best under James Franklin, Penn State was coming off of two dominant wins in a row over Indiana and Northwestern and the Nittany Lions wasted no time and got off to a hot start against Michigan.

Star running back Saquon Barkley opened the game with a 69-yard rushing touchdown less than a minute in, his first of three total touchdowns on the day and his first of two rushing touchdowns in a four-minute span in the first quarter.

Quarterback Trace McSorley also contributed two rushing touchdowns and added another in the air, pushing Penn State to 7-0 on the season, before losing its next two and then winning out to finish the season. 11-2 with an eventual Fiesta Bowl win over Washington.

Dec. 21, 2024: vs No. 11 SMU

The 2024 season was the first time College Football Playoff games were hosted on college campuses, and Penn State brought out the White Out game to welcome in SMU in the first round.

The No. 6 Nittany Lions blew out the Mustangs, 38-10, with the home field advantage playing a significant role. SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings threw three interceptions on the day, including two pick-sixes that served as the game's first two touchdowns.

Throwback to when Penn State’s defense and home field advantage put Kevin Jennings and SMU in a blender in the first round of the CFP‼️ pic.twitter.com/6E2M3vjU3q

— The Basic Blues Podcast (@BasicBluesPod) April 1, 2025

Penn State ran for 189 yards on the ground behind the 1-2 punch of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who both scored touchdowns, but it was the Penn State defense that gave the team the upper hand early. It provided an environment that SMU never saw before and it played a major impact.

The Nittany Lions went all the way to the College Football Playoff semifinals in 2024, where they lost to No. 7 Notre Dame.  

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