When white-out conditions are discussed around the University of Washington campus in Seattle, the phrase refers to difficulty driving in the snow.
The Huskies will face another type of white-out on Saturday in State College, Pa., when they take on No. 6 Penn State.
For the past 20-plus years, fans have been encouraged to wear white to one Nittany Lions home game per season. It seems to work, as Penn State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) has won its past five white-out contests and seven of the past eight.
Penn State coach James Franklin has talked about “white-out energy,” and his team could use the boost after taking its first loss of the season last week, 20-13 to visiting Ohio State.
“Overall, obviously, got some things we’ve got to continue to work on, but most importantly, we’re on to Washington,” said Franklin, who got into a confrontation with a fan after the loss. “We’ve got to find a way to get a win this week. I thought the staff and the players did a good job of making the corrections and then moving on to Washington.”
Nittany Lions quarterback Drew Allar, who threw an interception into the end zone and misfired on fourth-and-goal from the Ohio State 1-yard line in the fourth quarter, agreed.
“The thing we talked about is we can’t let one (loss) turn into two, turn into three,” Allar said. “We have to right the wrongs that we made (against the Buckeyes). Offensively, we’re not going to point any fingers. It’s not one person that blew the game for us.”
Allar has completed 70.1 percent of his passes for 1,786 yards and 12 touchdowns with five interceptions. His favorite target, Tyler Warren, was named a semifinalist Tuesday for the John Mackey Award that goes to the nation’s top tight end. Kaytron Allen has 536 rushing yards on the season, and Nicholas Singleton had 498.
The Huskies (5-4, 3-3) are coming off a 26-21 victory against visiting Southern California in which Jonah Coleman rushed for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Linebacker Carson Bruener was named Big Ten defensive player of the week after making 12 tackles and intercepting two passes.
Washington quarterback Will Rogers, a transfer from Mississippi State, has completed 71.1 percent of his passes for 2,284 yards and 13 TDs with four interceptions. Coleman has rushed for 889 yards and seven touchdowns and wide receiver Denzel Boston leads the conference with nine scoring receptions.
Huskies coach Jedd Fisch, who experienced a white-out while an assistant at Michigan, is looking forward to it.
“It’s going to be a fantastic experience,” he said. “… It’s Saturday night and white-out and it’s going to be 110, 111,000 (fans) … It’s going to be an amazing atmosphere, there’s no question about it. I think that it’s going to be a blast for our guys.”
Fisch said he showed his players some film from previous white-out games.
“We’ve just gotta go play ball and try to see if we can play the best game we’ve played all year,” said Fisch, whose team is one victory away from bowl eligibility with a game at No. 1 Oregon remaining as well as a home date with UCLA.
