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Nick Saban not impressed with Penn State football’s ‘White Out’
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- Nick Saban not impressed with Penn State football’s ‘White Out’
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The post Nick Saban not impressed with Penn State football's 'White Out' appeared first on ClutchPoints .
Penn State football 's 'White Out' games are typically considered among the toughest environments in which to play in all of college football.
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Ahead of the Nittany Lions ' highly anticipated top-10 matchup with Oregon tomorrow night, much has been made of the Penn State faithful's famous White Out crowd, where the 100,000 or so of PSU fans at Beaver Stadium all dress in white and scream their heads off. But Nick Saban , whose 2011 Alabama team beat Penn State in State College, has a different view.
"You know, we played in a White Out here, and it didn't help them much," Saban said on 'The Pat McAfee Show'.
"I really, really tried to emphasize to the players that those circumstances, those external factors, like a White Out, really doesn't have any impact on the game," he added. "It's going to be about what you do within the 53 yards wide and 100 yards deep that's going to make a difference in the game."
While true, and predictable of a coach, Penn State has good reason to believe the White Outs do have some impact.
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Since a one-point loss to Ohio State in 2018, each of the annual White Out games has yielded a win; in 2019, the Nittany Lions beat Michigan , and in 2021, they topped Auburn. The last four, in particular, have been decisive victories, with Penn State beating up on Minnesota , Iowa , Washington , and first-round College Football Playoff opponent SMU by an average margin of 29 points.
Still, Oregon is likely a very different beast than the last half dozen opponents Penn State has hosted during its White Out.
The Ducks , who entered the 2024-25 CFP as the No. 1 seed and with a 13-0 record, are the defending Big Ten champions after beating PSU 45-37 in the title game last December. So far this season, Oregon has cruised to a 4-0 start to the regular season and 1-0 to the Big Ten slate .
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Penn State vs. Oregon, the winner of which could ultimately decide one half of the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game, is expected to kick off at approximately 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
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