The Scene at Penn State Is Humming Ahead of the White Out vs. Oregon

Nittany Lions fans camp in the rain, and State College businesses drape themselves in white to welcome the Ducks.

A student-painted sign hangs outside Beaver Stadium before Saturday's White Out game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and Oregon Ducks. | Amanda Vogt/Penn State on SI

STATE COLLEGE | Two students stood underneath a basketball hoop while another took a running start, hurdled and dunked right in front of Penn State men’s basketball coach Mike Rhoades and his team. That was Wednesday night at Nittanyville, and there were roars outside Gate A of Penn State’s Beaver Stadium. 

Even with rain falling, as it has for most of the week as the clouds seemingly cooperated with the theme, the White Out brought a different energy to Penn State’s campus and State College. Saturday’s Penn State-Oregon game marks the 18th full-stadium White Out since 2007 but just the second featuring two teams ranked in the AP top 10.

When the No. 3 Nittany Lions face the sixth-ranked Ducks on NBC’s Big Ten Saturday Night, Beaver Stadium will be filled with perhaps its largest crowd in history and the biggest group of recruits Penn State has ever hosted. 

.@NittanyvillePSU went CRAZY last night at the @PennStateMBB dunk contest 🫢#WeAre pic.twitter.com/nNm9jrIO9w

— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) September 25, 2025

“If you’re a college sports fan in general, especially football, there’s nothing like the White Out,” Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said. “When I’m sitting down on the sidelines and I’m trying to go through the film with [quarterbacks coach] Danny [O’Brien], it’s hard to hear him next to me just because of how the crowd will get. You can feel the stadium shaking.”

And State College already is shaking. From stores revamping displays, Old Main becoming a national backdrop for ESPN and fans antsy for the gates to open on Saturday, there’s a palpable buzz ahead of the White Out. 

“There’s a lot of excitement brewing around town,” Nittanyville President Aaron Klein said. “Everyone knows about James Franklin, they say he can’t win big games, but I think this is the perfect opportunity to silence those people, and we have a really good opportunity to make up for last year.”

Not your average camping trip

Tents cover the plaza outside of Beaver Stadium's Gate A for the weekly student camp-out known as Nittanyville. | Amanda Vogt/Penn State on SI

Since 6 p.m. Tuesday, students have pitched tents outside Beaver Stadium’s Gate A at Nittanyville, the pre-game, tent-city home of Penn State’s student section. Nittanyville averaged 20 groups of campers each week during Penn State’s non-conference schedule. But that doubled to 41 for the White Out, with 350 people showing up to the stadium each night. 

“We pride ourselves not only in being one of the best student sections on this campus, but being recognized nationally for being one of the best, if not the best, student sections in all sports in the country,” Klein said.

The banners that hang over the student-section railing are made during the week. Some are personalized for each opponent, and all designs must be approved. Klein said there were about 10 design submissions just for this game. In one, Allar is painted throwing the head of the Oregon Duck mascot with the text “Get The Duck Off Our Field.” Other signs will be revealed Saturday.

A student-painted sign hangs outside Beaver Stadium before Saturday's White Out game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and Oregon Ducks. | Amanda Vogt/Penn State on SI

“We have projectors, we have paint, tarps, sheets, everything,” Klein said. “We do it all here at the gate. We start as soon as our camp-out starts, and we give people the materials and enough time to be able to do their banners.”

Every Thursday, members of the football team deliver pizza, and during White Out week, the quarterbacks traditionally make an appearance. This year, the tight ends also joined. “Everyone gets super excited when Drew Allar shows up,” Klein said. 

Drew Allar wants you 🫵 to come out Saturday to support @PennStateFball ‼️ pic.twitter.com/2VUDJ7RTJk

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 25, 2025

Klein said the wide receivers had the biggest personalities when they visited camp earlier this season. There was a tent-building contest, and players tossed footballs with campers. It was the first time receivers Kyron Hudson, Trebor Pena and Devonte Ross visited Nittanyville, and they all brought the energy, Klein said.  

Like the transfer receivers, linebacker Amare Campbell, who transferred from North Carolina, will play in his first White Out this weekend, something he has looked forward to for a while.

“Everybody’s all-in here,” Campbell said. “Just from me being here for these last three games, I can just tell all the fans, everybody buys into Penn State.”

State College stores cloaked in white

Penn State White Out apparel is on display at The Family Clothesline in State College ahead of Saturday's Penn State-Oregon game. | Amanda Vogt/Penn State on SI

White Out gear has filled nearly every inch of State College storefront space since last week's bye. For downtown businesses, the White Out is a key revenue driver.  

“It’s our biggest weekend of the year,” said Caroline Gummo, chief operating officer of The Family Clothesline. “We spend months preparing for it, making sure that we’ve got the proper inventory. So there’s a ton of prep work that goes into it, because we flip over the entire store.”

Gummo said that the store begins planning its White Out merchandise a year in advance. At the store’s College Avenue entrance, “Whack the Quack” T-shirts lead to a wall of white apparel. 

“Your opponent plays a big factor into it,” Gummo said. “We played [Oregon] last year [in the Big Ten Championship Game], we’ve got a bone to pick with them. This is like the perfect storm for this weekend.”

A White Out T-shirt hangs at The Family Clothesline in State College ahead of the Penn State vs. Oregon game. | Amanda Vogt/Penn State on SI

ESPN takes over Old Main lawn

Saturday, @CollegeGameDay brings the @penn_state White Out to Old Main Lawn for Week 5

🏈 @PennStateFball's @coachjfranklin joins the show live
⚪️ Fans - arrive early & WEAR WHITE
🗣️ @PatMcAfeeShow Kicking Contest
📺 9a ET | ESPN, ESPNU, Disney+

More: https://t.co/RC8ebODvi5 pic.twitter.com/4bdUGyRS2I

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 25, 2025

On Tuesday, the ESPN College GameDay trucks rolled into State College to begin constructing the set for the pre-game show’s 12th appearance at Penn State. Last year, the show went live from outside Beaver Stadium ahead of the top-five battle between the Nittany Lions and Ohio State Buckeyes. This year it will originate from Penn State’s Old Main lawn. 

LaVar Arrington, Penn State’s Hall of Fame linebacker, will serve as Saturday's GameDay guest picker. Franklin, Penn State’s national-championship women’s volleyball team and Ellie Sheehan, the Blue Band’s first female drum major, will make live appearances as well. While College GameDay doesn’t go live until 9 a.m., fans can arrive as early as 5:30 a.m. to queue for the show’s “pit” section. 

On Monday, Penn State coach James Franklin called for the crowd to be “screaming a collective battle cry” and to stand and cheer the entire game.  “We want to make it clearly obvious to everybody what’s the most challenging and difficult environment to play in all of sports, let alone college football,” Franklin said. 

Based on the roars around Nittanyville this week, that’s possible.

“We obviously lost to Oregon last year, and I’m sure people are still thinking about that,” Klein said. “So it’s on our turf this year, under-the-lights White Out game. You can’t get a better crowd and you cannot get a better time.”