It is time for Penn Staters to give up the White Out myth
OMG, Iowa is gonna be so intimidated by teh Whiteout 11!!!11!
Saturday night saw another display of Penn State’s “legendary” white out WHITEHOUSE. The brainstorm of college football atmosphere savant Guido D’Elia, the Whitehouse is supposed to unify the fans and give the Nittany Lions a 12th, if not 13th man. It is only “officially” brought out for night games. The phenomenon really got going in 2005 for the Ohio State game that year. That game has correctly been seen as a turning point for Beaver Stadium as fans, especially students, tried making it a hard to place for the opposition to play in. On that evening, thanks in part to some genuine spontaneity, it probably helped beat the Buckeyes. However, let’s look at the record since:
2006 vs. Michigan L
2007 vs. Notre Dame W (first stadium wide Whitehouse)
2007 vs. Ohio State L
2008 vs. Illinois W
2009 vs. Iowa L
That’s not a great record, is it? Can you say that either of the teams Penn State beat was comparable to them? I can’t.
Going back farther, Beaver Stadium is not as tough at night as we like to think it is either:
2001 vs. Miami L
2002 vs. Nebraska W
So, Penn State’s record this decade in night home games is a whopping 4-4.
Sure, its nice that Kirk Herbstreit and ESPN like the Whitehosue and fans dig it too, but to think it was winning games for Penn State is to be drunk on D’Elia’s Kool-Aid. I have been saying since 2007 that the Whitehouse is not intimidating anymore. I am not happy to be right either, but the Nittany Lions nation needs to take its medicine.
Penn State, Nittany Lions, college football, Iowa Hawkeyes,
Nittany Nation is the basketball student section
I've clarified, adding Lions and dropping the uppercase on nation.
As someone who was at the game on Saturday, in fairness, the torrential downpour a lot to do with it. You make a good point about the overall record, but it doesn't real hurt the team and creates good morale among the fans, so why not? This Saturday's effort was certainly undercut by the rain, however.
I'm not saying it hurts the team, but I read a bit last week from media and Penn State fans that the whiteout would intimidate Iowa.
Okay. I'll conceed that point. Remember, some people think history doesn't go beyond what happened last week.
On an unrelated note, I think you need to post your thoughts on the Redskins loss to the previously winless Lions. Did you have a prediction for that game?
I was too busy to make a prediction on the Redskins game, but safe to say, I would have been incorrect.
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