Penn State’s White Out returns to Beaver Stadium on Saturday night, and the Nittany Lions will get one of the season’s biggest stages against USC. It’s the 19th full-stadium White Out since 2007, though the tradition actually started in 2004 against Purdue. For a lot of Penn State’s roster, and for head coach Matt Campbell, this will be the first taste of it.
The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET and will air on NBC, with Todd Blackledge and Noah Eagle on the call and Kathryn Tappen reporting from the sideline.
It also will stream on Peacock. Penn State is making its first appearance on NBC’s Big Ten Saturday Night, while USC is back on the network for a second straight week after beating Washington 25-21 at home.
On radio, Steve Jones and Jack Ham are back for their 27th season together on the Penn State Sports Network. The pair first teamed up in 2000.
Ham was the first Penn State football player inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Their broadcast will run on dozens of stations, on Sirius XM channels 85, 179 and 249, on the XM app and online through the Penn State Sports Network.
The matchup comes with Penn State listed as a 1.5-point favorite at DraftKings, a number that has held since Sunday. The Nittany Lions are also -122 on the money line, with USC at +108. The over/under is 54.5.
There’s history here, too. Penn State leads the all-time series 6-5, with the rivalry dating back to a 1922 Rose Bowl meeting.
The Nittany Lions nudged ahead in 2024 thanks to a 33-30 overtime win at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, when tight end Tyler Warren hauled in 17 passes for 244 yards. That was also the first Big Ten meeting between the programs.
USC is making its first trip to Beaver Stadium since 1994, when Penn State won 38-14. The Trojans had won the two previous meetings at the 2008 and 2016 Rose Bowls before Penn State snapped its three-game skid in last year’s overtime thriller.
There’s a coaching thread here, too. Penn State defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn is facing his former boss, and Penn State’s Matt Campbell and USC’s Lincoln Riley have already gone head-to-head six times as head coaches at Iowa State and Oklahoma.
Riley owns that series 4-2, including wins in the 2020 Big 12 title game, 27-21, and in 2021, 28-21. Every one of those games finished within 10 points.
Campbell’s wins came in 2017, 38-31, and in the 2020 regular season, 37-30.
Penn State arrives in rough shape after last week’s 34-13 loss at Northwestern, a result that pushed the Nittany Lions out of both major polls. They’re also 0-2 in White Out games for the first time since 2016.
USC, meanwhile, sits 17th in the Coaches Poll and 19th in the AP Top 25, and the Trojans are 17th in the latest ESPN SP+ rankings after moving down four spots. Penn State checks in at No. 30, down 15 spots.
Offensively, Penn State still needs someone to grab the spotlight with Koby Howard out for the third straight game. Senior Chase Sowell has been the most reliable target for Rocco Becht over the last two weeks, catching 11 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown against Wisconsin and Northwestern. He also produced Penn State’s longest play in that stretch, a 26-yard catch on the opening snap at Northwestern.
But the Nittany Lions need more than one receiver to wake up. Their offense has managed just three touchdowns in two games, and the run game has become a real concern.
Penn State ranks 14th in the Big Ten in conference games on the ground, and James People managed only 13 yards on eight carries at Northwestern. Even so, he still looks like the best bet for a breakout run, though the offensive line has to do more, with guard Cooper Cousins saying it needs to block with more “conviction,”
USC’s rushing numbers are nearly identical on paper to Penn State’s - 156.2 yards per game to 156.4 - but the Trojans have been more consistent. Their lowest output this season came last week against Washington, when they totaled 115 yards and King Miller ran for 81 yards on 18 carries.
Lincoln Riley is expected to keep leaning on the ground game, especially after seeing Northwestern pound Penn State last week. USC’s approach will look different, but Riley still figures to build around Miller and Waymond Jordan to open things up for quarterback Jayden Maiava in play-action.
The Trojans also floated the possible return of Trent Mosley, who opened the year with back-to-back 100-yard games before getting hurt against Louisiana. He has missed the last three games and is listed as questionable, though he may still need another week. Penn State is dealing with a similar situation with Howard.
And then there’s Luke Wafle, the freshman USC tackle who was once in the mix for Penn State. He leads the Trojans with five tackles for loss, while former Penn State end Zuriah Fisher has one.
In Other News...
Penn State's White Out Is Chasing A Beaver Stadium First
Penn States annual White Out already has its own built-in electricity, but this one is shaping up to be something else entirely. With more than 110,000 tickets distributed for the upcoming game against USC, Beaver Stadium is on pace to be packed to a level it has never quite reached before, helped by this seasons expanded capacity during the ongoing renovation project.
The added premium suites and bleacher seating have changed the look and feel of the stadium, and now they may help it make history on a night that already carries extra weight. If the announced crowd lands where it appears headed, the number could climb past the marks set in 2024 and 2025, giving Penn State a new attendance benchmark to go with the pageantry. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Defense Gets Another White Out Concern Before USC
Penn States White Out stage is set for a major test, and the Nittany Lions will have to navigate it with a thinner linebacker group than planned. Alex Tatsch has been ruled out for the upcoming game against No. 19 USC, a hit to the rotation at a spot where depth matters just as much as the top-line production.
There is at least some relief on the defensive front, with defensive tackle Armstrong Nnodim upgraded to probable. His possible availability matters for a line that will be asked to hold up under the kind of pressure USC can bring, and it gives Penn State a little more flexibility as the night game at Beaver Stadium gets closer. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Now Catches USC At A Brutal Time
USCs wide receiver room took another hit this week, and the timing is especially awkward with Penn State looming on the schedule. Terrell Anderson, a transfer from NC State, is expected to undergo season-ending surgery because of an undisclosed injury, leaving the Trojans to keep shuffling plans while they get ready for one of their biggest games of the stretch.
Anderson joins Corey Simms on the list of wideouts sidelined for the year, which only adds to the uncertainty around how USC will piece together its passing game. For Penn State, it is the kind of late-breaking opponent news that can matter in a matchup this significant, even if the full impact will not be clear until the teams finally line up. [Read more 🡒]