White Out mode has been formally triggered for Penn State’s home playoff game, which should not be shocking.
The Nittany Lions’ social media pages declared on Sunday that they will play SMU in a White Out at Beaver Stadium on December 21.At 12:00 on TNT and MAX, the sixth-seeded Lions will play the eleventh-seeded Mustangs.
White Out was a logical choice for the first playoff game (and most likely any playoff game) played on Penn State’s campus, but it’s also noteworthy because it’s the first White Out to start at noon since a defeat to Michigan in 2015.
It will be Penn State’s third White Out of the season, which is a special situation. The official event was a 35–6 thumping of Washington on November 9. However, because the Fighting Illini were ranked, James Franklin also pushed for an unofficial White Out versus Illinois on September 28. The well-attended victory by Penn State, 21–7, looked like a typical White Out.
Illinois was not officially designated as a second White Out by Penn State because to possible behind-the-scenes problems associated with having two in a same season. Franklin stated that he wasn’t personally certain of the reason why Sunday’s playoff game might be a White Out.
Earlier in the season, I stated that a White Out would be awesome if we were to play in a playoff game. I read on social media an hour ago that, “I suppose the decision had been made and it’s going to be,” Franklin stated on Sunday afternoon. Other than that, there weren’t many conversations. I brought it up as a possibility. No follow-up discussions were held. Our goal was to end the season in the best possible way.
However, this home playoff White Out is not your typical home game. While the College Football Playoff will control tickets for the whole game, Penn State will not control tickets to bring recruits to campus for the weekend. The CFP will receive all ticket sales proceeds.
We don’t have any advantages even though it’s a home game for us. Franklin stated that while prospects are welcome to attend the game, they would need to purchase their own tickets and other related items. Other than the fact that excellent players can still see us play this season, there are benefits, but they are not as great from a recruiting standpoint as people may believe.
The on-field advantage of having a crowd of over 100,000 people yelling at maximum volume will still be available to Penn State. Perhaps the cold weather will also have an impact on SMU, which is going north from Dallas. According to Accuweather’s far too early forecast, State College will see a high of 39 degrees on December 21.
In order to give everyone the best opportunity to adhere to the White Out dress code, Franklin remarked, “I want to make sure that we’re selling big enough white jackets and big enough white parkas to cover the hunting gear.”
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