Penn State’s annual White Out game is widely celebrated as one of the most intimidating spectacles in college football.
But before it became a spectacle, before it became a tradition, there was frustration.
After a 3-9 season in 2003 (with wins over Temple, Kent State and Indiana), fan morale was low and there was a growing feeling that something needed to change inside Beaver Stadium.
Enter Guido D’Elia.
To inject life back into the stadium, specifically the student section, D’Elia, the athletic department’s branding director, looked for a simple way to unify the fans.
The idea: a plain white T-shirt.
“I just thought, how do you get people to act as one?” D’Elia told ESPN. “You put them in a uniform. We figured everyone’s got a white T-shirt, so let’s make it white.”
D’Elia launched a grassroots campaign (remember kids, this was before social media) in 2004 encouraging the student section to wear nothing but white for the game against Purdue.
The Nittany Lions lost that day, but the visual blueprint was set.
In 2007, Penn State expanded the White Out from the student section to all of Beaver Stadium. The first full-stadium White Out drew 110,078 and the Nittany Lions routed Notre Dame 31-10.
More than two decades after that first experiment, it has become one of the most eye-catching traditions in sports.
Penn State will hold its 19th full-stadium White Out when USC visits Beaver Stadium on Oct. 10 for a nationally televised Big Ten game (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC).
The tradition that began with a simple request in 2004 is still growing. And for one night every fall, Happy Valley once again disappears into a sea of white.
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Five memorable White Out games
2005 — Penn State 17, Ohio State 10: The game that helped turn the White Out from an experiment into a tradition. No. 16 Penn State upset No. 6 Ohio State as Tamba Hali’s fourth-quarter sack of quarterback Troy Smith became the signature moment.
2007 — Penn State 31, Notre Dame 10: The first full-stadium White Out. The crowd of over 110,000 watched Derrick Williams’ 78-yard punt return spark a 17-point run, while No. 14 Penn State’s defense held Notre Dame to 144 total yards and six sacks of Jimmy Clausen.
2013 — Penn State 43, Michigan 40: One of the wildest games in Beaver Stadium history. Penn State tied the game with 27 seconds left, then won in the fourth overtime when the Nittany Lions answered No. 18 Michigan’s field goal with Bill Belton’s 2-yard touchdown run for the win.
2016 — Penn State 24, Ohio State 21: The “Block Six.” Marcus Allen blocked a fourth-quarter field goal and Grant Haley returned it 60 yards for the go-ahead touchdown as Penn State rallied from a 21-7 fourth-quarter deficit to stun No. 2 Ohio State.
2019 — Penn State 28, Michigan 21: The crowd made its presence felt before the game’s first snap as Michigan had to burn a timeout because of the deafening noise. No. 7 Penn State then jumped to a 21-0 lead and held on for the victory over the 16th-ranked Wolverines.
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By the numbers
- 111,015: Attendance for the 2025 Oregon White Out game, the largest White Out crowd in Penn State history.
- 11: Different opponents Penn State has faced in White Out games: Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Illinois, Iowa, Alabama, Auburn, Minnesota, Washington, SMU and Oregon.
- 11-7: Penn State’s all-time record in full-stadium White Outs heading into the 2026 matchup against USC.
- 7: White Out games that have also featured ESPN’s “College GameDay” on campus — Ohio State (2005, 2018), Iowa (2009), Michigan (2017, 2019), Auburn (2021) and Oregon (2025).
- 6: Michigan has been the White Out opponent the most times when counting full-stadium and student section-only games. Ohio State is next with five.
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Quotes of note
“There’s something about it, the whole business about the white out. It’s a bringing together of the whole institution, not only the undergraduate kids, but you see people out there that will be old men, maybe 60. It’s great to be a part of it, and I think the kids feel that way, too.” — former Penn State coach Joe Paterno, speaking about the early days of the tradition
“For me, the best atmosphere in college football is Saturday night at the White Out. … It’s something about, not just the noise, but the energy and the pride that’s within that stadium that night.” — Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN analyst and longtime “College GameDay” personality
“It’s one of the best spectacles in college football. Everybody does some color out. For whatever reason, it’s different here. It is cool. It’s what separates college football from other sports.” — Rece Davis, ESPN “College GameDay” host
“When they put on their whites, they expect to be intimidating, and they are. They made themselves a factor. Wearing white is part of the crowd’s identity now, and their identity has become part of the Penn State brand.” — Guido D’Elia, former Penn State branding director
“The crowd was definitely a factor there. … I think that’s when it affected us the most, was that third quarter going into the end zone where the student section was. And that’s what college football’s all about.” — SMU coach Rhett Lashlee after his team’s 38-10 loss to Penn State at Beaver Stadium in the first round of the 2024 College Football Playoff
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Mike Garbett is a content specialist working with McClatchy’s Content Innovation Lab.