Everyone has heard the phrase hindsight is 20/20. Well, this season, this phrase can be applied to Penn State Football’s choice to host the Whiteout against Washington instead of Illinois.
How we got here
Penn State’s Whiteout choice made sense before the season started. Washington was coming off of a national championship game appearance, and the Nittany Lions beat Illinois on the road in the Big Ten opener last season. However, three weeks into the 2024 season, the slate looks quite a bit different than it did this offseason.
Illinois has shot out to a 3-0 start, getting a key upset win over No. 19 Kansas in week two. Washington, on the other hand, dropped its only Power 4 game this season in the Apple Cup in week three and looks like a shell of the team that almost ran the table last season after losing a coach to Alabama and most of its starters to the NFL and transfer portal.
So the question is, should fans take matters into their own hands and “fix” the Whiteout mistake?
Should Penn State fans hold an unofficial Whiteout against Illinois?
With the themes officially set for the season (and plenty of moving pieces behind the scenes for each theme), Penn State will not officially move the Whiteout in 2024. However, there is some precedent for fans to take matters into their own hands and white out Beaver Stadium a second time in a season.
In 2017, Penn State hosted Michigan in the Whiteout (a very worthy opponent for Penn State’s annual spectacle).
However, with in-state “rival” Pitt on the home schedule as well, fans came together and decided to white out Beaver Stadium a second time.
While there was still a mix of blue throughout the crowd, overall, the fans’ effort was very successful at replicating one of the best spectacles in college sports and one of the best sports environments in the nation. In 2024, fans should consider doing the same against Illinois.
With the Illinois kickoff being confirmed for either the 7:00 or 7:30 night slot, the Whiteout effect would give Beaver Stadium its traditional aura for Penn State’s Big Ten opener.
The effect could also energize the team and crowd in a game that Penn State may need all the help it can get to stay undefeated and keep on the path to the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance.
The 2024 Nittany Lions could be one of the best teams of the James Franklin era, and the players deserve the best environments the fans can give to push them along on the path to heights the program has not seen before.
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The Real Issue
While it’s fun to debate partway through the season whether Illinois or Washington should have been Penn State’s Whiteout opponent this season, the elephant in the room is that neither should be.
If Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff did not pick up Penn State’s game against Ohio State in the noon time slot, Ohio State would be the preferred choice for any Penn State fan. While Penn State has tried to save its annual spectacle for night or late afternoon games, Penn State and athletic director Pat Kraft have to figure out how to work with TV partners to bring Penn State’s Whiteout back to Penn State’s biggest matchups of the season because Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff is truly ruining college football.
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- White Out Coup: Should Penn State Football Fans White Out Illinois? - September 18, 2024
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