Penn State’s White Out vs. Oregon will be electric but Big Noon kickoffs continue to ruin College Football

Outside of THE West Virginia University Gold Rush, Penn State’s White Out is one of the best traditions in college football. When Beaver Stadium is rocking under the lights with 100,000 fans in a sea of white, it’s quite the scene and this year, fans are actually getting a matchup worthy of the stage.

Penn State vs. Oregon. A legit opponent. A potential top-10 showdown. Finally, no more sleepwalking through White Outs against unranked Big Ten West teams or random playoff filler games. This one should deliver.

Penn State will host Oregon at 7:30 p.m. on September 27 on NBC

JUST IN: Penn State will face Oregon in the 2025 White Out. pic.twitter.com/vUqNPZwEJw

— Onward State (@OnwardState) May 29, 2025

Big Game James Franklin is already preparing for the moment

Like clockwork, Penn State will once again waltz through a cupcake opening schedule, get two weeks to prep for Oregon, and head into the White Out with the hype machine in full blast.

After that, they’ll rack up wins against UCLA, Northwestern, and Iowa, maybe drop one game late, and once again enter the Playoff conversation. Then they’ll run into Ohio State on the road, get exposed, finish with two losses, back into the expanded Playoff, and get bounced by an SEC team. We’ve all seen this movie before.

Penn State is 13-8 in Whiteout Games:

Year	Opponent	Penn State result
2004	No. 9 Purdue	L 13–20
2005	No. 6 Ohio State	W 17–10
2006	No. 4 Michigan	L 10–17
2007	Notre Dame	W 31–10
2008	No. 22 Illinois	W 38–24
2009	Iowa	L 10–21
2010	Michigan	W 41–31
2011	No. 3 Alabama	L 11–27
2012	No. 9 Ohio State	L 23–35
2013	No. 18 Michigan	W 43–40 (4OT)
2014	No. 13 Ohio State	L 24–31 (2OT)
2015	No. 14 Michigan	L 16–28
2016	No. 2 Ohio State	W 24–21
2017	No. 19 Michigan	W 42–13
2018	No. 4 Ohio State	L 26–27
2019	No. 16 Michigan	W 28–21
2020	No White Out game due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	No. 22 Auburn	W 28–20
2022	Minnesota	W 45–17
2023	No. 24 Iowa	W 31–0
2024	Washington	W 35–6
	No. 10 SMU (CFP First Round)	W 38–10
Overall Penn State record: 13–8

Side Note: 13-8 at home during a White Out? Not great. They are 8-2 over their last 10 but even that record is a little padded when you look at the wins (hello, unranked Minnesota in 2023 and Washington in last year’s Playoff game that probably shouldn’t have been at Beaver Stadium).

Oregon will be a true test — and the kind of opponent this atmosphere deserves.

Speaking of ruining atmospheres… let’s talk about Big Noon Kickoff

Big Noon Kickoff continues to be an absolute anchor on college football scheduling. Thank the scheduling gods that Penn State-Oregon avoided the dreaded noon slot this year, but FOX is still doing its best to ruin other massive games.

Case in point: Texas vs. Ohio State this fall. A likely top-five matchup. Arch Manning. Jeremiah Smith. The Shoe under the lights would’ve been unreal. But no — Big Noon Kickoff strikes again, and the game is locked into a noon kickoff.

Why? Because FOX won’t compete with ESPN’s primetime window and insists on leading directly into their pregame show that no one watches over College GameDay anyway.

Ohio State even tried to move the game to Sunday to avoid this mess, but Texas wasn’t having it. And of course, FOX couldn’t just air Big Noon Kickoff from Columbus and let the game be played later — that would make too much sense.

So while Penn State fans should savor the fact that the White Out will finally feel like a big-time event again, the rest of us are stuck watching marquee matchups get sandbagged by bad TV decisions.

The White Out is built for primetime. So is Ohio State-Texas. It’s time the networks figured that out — but until they do, we’ll keep getting these backwards schedules while the suits high-five in the production truck.

At least this year, Happy Valley will have the lights on. Let’s hope the rest of college football follows.

Ah one last point, I was kind of kidding about West Virginia University’s Gold Rush being better than the White Out but still, Rich Rod back in Morgantown will have the Mountaineers buzzing all season, even with the program stuck in Big 12 purgatory.

Country Roads Take Me Home.

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