Penn State reported a Beaver Stadium attendance over 109,000 during its Sept. 13 non-conference finale, a 52-6 victory over Villanova. Things reach a different level in Happy Valley this Saturday, when No. 6 Oregon visits the No. 3 Nittany Lions for a 7:30 p.m. Big Ten battle broadcast on NBC.
“Obviously we need this place rocking,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said during his Monday afternoon press conference.
The 3-0 Nittany Lions approach the matchup coming out of their first bye week. After being favored by more than 40 points for each of those first three games, a back-and-forth battle is expected against Oregon, who visits Happy valley at 4-0 following a 41-7 victory over rival Oregon State.
“Tremendous challenge, tremendous opportunity,” Franklin said in describing this rematch of the 2024 Big Ten Championship Game.
Oregon topped Penn State, 45-37, last December in Indianapolis to earn the conference title as a first-year member. This time around, action moves from a neutral field to a perennially lauded setting inside Beaver Stadium.
“I’m expecting this to be an environment like no one has ever seen,” Franklin said. “… We want to make it it clearly obvious to everybody what is the most challenging and difficult environment to play in all of sports, let alone college football.”
Franklin then spoke directly to Penn State supporters who plan to attend.
“I know a good portion of our fans like to sit down, except for third downs and red zone and what they consider critical times of the game, but I’m challenging everybody,” Franklin said. “This is a four-quarter, one-play-at-a-time, first down, second down, third down, fourth down, punts, kickoff coverage that we need to be on our feet screaming a collective battle cry in the stadium. So we’re gonna need everybody’s help.”
Penn State encounters an Oregon squad that has not yet lost a regular-season game since transitioning to the Big Ten. The Ducks are 16-0 during that span.
On Saturday, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning looked ahead to the contest.
“I think we’ll get a really good gauge of (where we’re at) as we play Penn State,” Lanning said. “I think it’s a team that’s really talented. I feel good about our team. I really like our team. This will be a good environment for us to go play in. We’re going to be playing people who have a lot of talent as well and good scheme on both sides of the ball. It will be a real challenge for us.”
The selection of Oregon for the White Out in prime time bucks a trend that saw Penn State’s matchups against Ohio State and Michigan — the Nittany Lions’ highest-profile home opponents over the past four years — get locked into the noon time slot.
The White Out’s presentation is at its best at night, which meant Penn State faced schools such as Washington, Iowa, Minnesota and Auburn in that setting. The Nittany Lions won all four of those games.
Penn State conducted three White Outs in 2024. Coach James Franklin called for “White Out… Energy” ahead of a late September matchup against Illinois, which featured two teams ranked in the top 25. The Nittany Lions won that game, 21-7. In November, Penn State held its official White Out against Washington in a game that was streamed exclusively on Peacock and kicked at 8 p.m. ET. The Nittany Lions won that game, 35-6.
Then Penn State’s White Out branding returned for the College Football Playoff first-round matchup against SMU, which was a 38-10 Nittany Lions victory.
Lions247’s Daniel Gallen contributed to this article.