Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1528325
8 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 4 OPENING SHOT LIGHTING UP THE NIGHT Since it began staging White Outs in 2004, Penn State has taken great care to avoid dilut- ing the event's power by holding too many. One of the reasons they elicit so much excite- ment in the PSU community is that they only come around once a year. James Franklin clearly had that supply-and- demand calculus in mind when he called for "White Out energy," rather than an actual White Out, on Sept. 28 when the Nittany Lions opened their Big Ten season against visiting Illinois. "We need this place rocking next week," Franklin said in the postgame news confer- ence following the Lions' 56-0 shutout of Kent State on Sept. 21. "I'm calling for White Out energy. Everybody got me? That could be all your headlines. I'm writing your headlines. I'm the editor — White Out energy. That's going to be big next week." It was big. There were 109,911 fans on hand for the primetime matchup, and those fans made plenty of noise, helping No. 9 Penn State pull away for a 21-7 victory in a battle of top- 20 teams. The volume was especially intense when the 19th-ranked Illini were on offense, resulting in an early-second-quarter timeout and 6 pre- snap penalties — 4 false starts and a couple of illegal shifts. By Franklin's count, there were more than half a dozen plays in which the Illini were clearly hindered by the noise. "That was a phenomenal environment," he said. "That wasn't even a White Out, and we had that [type of atmosphere]. The fans were phenomenal. We thought the fans had seven impactful plays in the game. Seven plays, whether it was timeouts, whether it was false starts and penalties, whether it was bad snaps. "We're so thankful and appreciative for the fans and the environment we get here," he added. "It's like nothing else in all of sports, let alone college football. We're appreciative of that." Even the Illini couldn't help but be impressed with the pandemonium that Penn State had summoned for their visit. "It was a crazy atmosphere for sure," Illinois tight end Tanner Arkin said. "That first kickoff, you can feel it in your chest almost. It was awesome, and we were blessed to have the opportunity to play here. Great atmosphere." — Matt Herb PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS