True freshman wide receiver Derek Moye dressed for the very first time in Beaver Stadium, ready to take on Notre Dame in 2007. He knew he’d be met with an electric crowd dressed in white, but Moye couldn’t even begin to imagine the lasting impacts of the first full-stadium White Out.
Penn State’s student section had put together a few White Outs of its own in the three years prior, starting with Purdue in 2004, when the athletic department asked the university’s students to wear white in an attempt to draw a crowd for the 2-3 Nittany Lions.
It wasn’t until that 2007 contest against Notre Dame, though, that the entire crowd donned white. Moye said his teammates had told him how “crazy” the student section White Outs were, but no one knew what was ahead.
“It was mind-blowing,” Moye said. “I didn’t know what to expect, but when I got in the stadium it was kind of like, really just ‘wow.’ Everything kind of seemed brighter. The energy was just so high … It was a really crazy experience thinking back on it.”
Moye, who ranks seventh all-time at Penn State with 2,395 career receiving yards, played in four more White Outs, but there was one specific moment the receiver can picture to this day, which came against Iowa in 2009.
“It was a rainy day, but the crowd was still full, didn’t care about the rain at all,” Moye said. “At this point in time, I don’t know if I’d heard it at all, or I just wasn’t overly familiar with the song, but they started playing ‘Don’t Stop Believin,’ and literally the whole crowd was singing as the rain was coming down. It was just one of those things I still envision in my mind perfectly to this day.”
The Nittany Lion hypes up the crowd at the White Out against Iowa on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions swept the Hawkeyes 31-0.
The Nittany Lions ended up losing that game to the Hawkeyes, but the dedication of the fans Moye saw that night in Beaver Stadium is the epitome of what makes the White Out special. ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit has referred to the Happy Valley faithful as “the best fans in the country” multiple times, including last week when College GameDay was in town.
Former Penn State running back Evan Royster felt the love of Penn State’s fans for years during his time as a Nittany Lion, with one of the more iconic signs made by Nittanyville being for Royster. The banner featured a play on words of the band Blue Öyster Cult, and the running back remains thankful to the fans all these years later.
“I think that’s what makes the Penn State experience so great. Having fans that truly care about the team is priceless,” Royster said. “The Blue Royster Cult — they gave me that sign, and I still have it in my house right now, so some of the best memories that I have are because of fans at Penn State, so I hope that continues for every class to go through after me.”
As the years have gone on, those same supporters have continued to show up, rain or shine, and break attendance records — half of the top-10 most attended games in Beaver Stadium history were White Outs.
Fireworks light up the stadium to start off the White Out against Iowa on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions swept the Hawkeyes 31-0.
Those are the games the players remember, especially Royster, who broke Penn State’s all-time rushing yards record in front of a sea of white in a win over Michigan in 2010. He said the White Outs “always, always, always” stand out in his mind, despite many games running together now for the 36-year-old.
Moye specifically made an effort to take in the environment and key in on the crowd during the White Outs, saying he would take a few seconds during warmups to “look up.”
“I took a few more seconds during the warmups … (when) you have a free second, whether it’s watching the defense play or whether it’s in between TV timeouts, you just kind of look up and see everything that’s going on,” Moye said. “You try to look at specific people and what they’re doing, and then also just kind of taking it in as a whole … Now it’s like, I look back and I go to the game, it’s like, damn, I used to play here.”
During his return to Happy Valley for the Minnesota contest in 2022, Moye saw firsthand how far the White Out has come since that win over Notre Dame, citing Herbstreit’s claim about Penn State fans as a significant reason for the spectacle’s growth.
“Kirk Herbstreit made the comments that he made, and it just took (the White Out) to a whole nother level,” Moye said. “Since Coach Franklin has gotten there, it’s really just gone from, I would say, from just the crowd being excited, wearing white, to actually, like a full-out event … The level that Coach Franklin has taken to is amazing. It’s more than even a football game. The White Out itself is an event.”
As Moye alluded to, the White Out has grown to unprecedented heights. Not only is it an event Penn State fans get excited for, it’s something the national media and college football fans everywhere turn their eyes to and have on their bucket list.
The team waits for their entrance during Penn State Football’s annual White Out game on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. The Nittany Lions won 45-17.
Analyst Rece Davis has been to a few White Outs, and said the atmosphere might not be the “best” in the country, but there are “none better.”
“When everything around you is white, there’s an eeriness to it, and it’s exhilarating,” Davis said. “I think everybody that walks in there for the White Out is fired up, and if you don’t have a tingle running up and down your spine when you walk into a White Out game, you probably don’t have a spine.
Washington will experience that “tingle” for the very first time Saturday as the Huskies travel to Beaver Stadium for their inaugural visit, where they’ll be met with the iconic fireworks, dark sky and sea of white.
Huskies coach Jedd Fisch said in his weekly press conference he’s “not concerned” about preparing his team for the White Out crowd after experiencing it as a member of Michigan’s staff.
“I showed the guys what it looks like a little bit on Sunday night. I showed them some clips of, you know, playing at Penn State at the White Out. We did it when I was at Michigan … talked about that a little bit. … Showed them some clips of just the energy and the passion to expect,” Fisch said.
While Washington may be unbothered, Drew Allar and the Nittany Lions are excited for the annual event as Penn State looks to bounce back from its first loss of 2024.
“The White Out is, I don’t even know how to describe it really, it’s insane. I’m honored to be a part of a team that gets to play in an environment like that,” Allar said. “The energy that the crowd and fans bring to this game, and really, all games in general, is unmatched across the country, in my opinion. It’s super special to be a part of it, and as players we don’t take that for granted, we soak in these moments, because you only have one a year, and so many in your career … It’s going to be fun to just be in that type of atmosphere again this weekend.”
MORE FOOTBALL CONTENT
With five minutes left in the game and trailing 20-13, Penn State’s defense needed a stop to…
