James Franklin Sheds Light on Penn State Football White Out

Penn State Football has yet to set a date for its annual whiteout football game this fall.

Thursday morning, Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin provided an update on what the program knows so far about the annual spectacle. In a video provided by Audrey Snyder of the Athletic, Franklin shared insight into the struggles planning this year’s game.

“If we want to provide the opponent, the experience, the time of day that our fanbase wants and expects,” Franklin told reporters on June 13. “There’s a lot of pushing and pulling and compromising and working with the conference and working with the TV partners to try to find a win-win for everybody.

“I don’t even completely know, I have a pretty good idea of where it is trending”.

When’s the White Out? James Franklin doesn’t know yet either pic.twitter.com/SKKu20ut00

— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) June 13, 2024

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What’s Holding Up a Penn State Football White Out Decision

So, while everyone waits for a decision, it looks like the whiteout matchup has not been set yet.

However, fans may be a bit disappointed about where the whiteout is trending.

For the past three years, Penn State has changed the whiteout from the “best opponent” to the “best night game,” due mainly to Fox’s Big Noon kickoff taking Penn State’s yearly matchups against Ohio State and Michigan. Although Ohio State and Michigan were ranked the highest of any of Penn State’s 2021, 2022, and 2023 opponents, Penn State’s whiteout was set against Auburn, Minnesota, and Iowa, respectively, because of the night scheduling.

So far for 2024, the only night game on the schedule for Penn State is a September 28 matchup against Illinois. With Ohio State on the home schedule, along with new Big Ten members Washington and UCLA, a whiteout against the Illini would be a massive disappointment for fans, and a continuation of the downgrading of the whiteout due to TV rights for Penn State’s biggest matchups.

While fans are hoping for another iconic whiteout against the Ohio State Buckeyes, that game is trending towards a noon kickoff on Fox’s Big Noon slot, and would likely not be the whiteout with the recent trend to stick to night games.

Penn State Football May Need to Soon Decide on White Out Game

There is pressure brewing across campus with respect to Penn State whiteout.

In his answer on the whiteout, Franklin noted there is pressure brewing on campus to get the iconic spectacle’s date set.

“The fans want to know, the ticket office wants to know” Franklin mentioned, noting that everyone across campus is waiting for the decision as all of the other themes for the fall are waiting on the whiteout to be scheduled first. Nittany Central will provide further updates as soon as any more information about the Penn State whiteout is set for the fall.

Whether it is the annual Salute to Service game, THON game, or other themes, the first big domino to fall is scheduling the White Out. And, it doesn’t sound like the program is much more certain about which game will get the treatment of the greatest atmosphere in sports than fans or media alike, yet.