No. 6 Penn State set for annual White Out game against Washington – Penn State

By: Tyler Millen 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – An avalanche of white compounded by a synchronized sound of screams will greet Washington who are making their first trip in program history to Beaver Stadium on Saturday at 8 p.m. for the 16th full stadium Penn State White Out. 

The Nittany Lions welcomed a record 111,030 on Nov. 2 against Ohio State and ushered in a new Beaver Stadium attendance record. History will once be rewritten on Saturday as Penn State and Washington are set to clash in their first regular season matchup since 1921. 

Saturday will mark the fourth all-time contest between the 5-4 Huskies and 7-1 Nittany Lions with the last meeting coming in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl. Penn State is 9-6 in White Out games and have won the last four in a row including a 31-0 win over then-No. 24 Iowa in 2023. 

Penn State is looking to rebound after suffering its first loss of the season to the Buckeyes and while the cheers of the upcoming White Out will be deafening, head coach James Franklin said the Nittany Lions are poised to silence the noise and refocus. 

“We’ve got to make sure that one loss doesn’t turn into two, and that’s controlling the things we can in our building and flushing it,” Franklin said. “Although whether it’s on campus or in the community or social media, that makes it more challenging specifically for our players to do that. We’ve got to make sure we moved on. We’ve got to find a way to get a win against a really good Washington team coming into our place.”

Washington ended a two-game losing skid with a 26-21 win over USC in its last game and have found steady play in senior quarterback Will Rogers who is tied for the Big Ten lead with 19 touchdowns. Rogers is third in the conference in completion percentage at 73.2 and fourth in passing yards with 2,284. 

Rogers’ go-to option is sophomore wide receiver Denzel Boston who leads the Big Ten with nine touchdown receptions. Boston has a team-high 682 receiving yards and could be matched up with Penn State sophomore cornerback Zion Tracy who’s caught the attention of Franklin for his emerging confidence and play making. 

Tracy recorded a 31-yard pick-six against the Buckeyes for the first interception of his collegiate career and has two pass deflections on the season. Tracy tallied a trio of tackles against Wisconsin where senior safety Jaylen Reed also returned an interception for a touchdown. It’s the first time Penn State’s had a pick-six in back-to-back games…