When Is the Penn State White Out? 'I Don't Even Completely Know,' James Franklin Says

Though Franklin certainly hinted Thursday that he would love to see the Nov. 2 game against Ohio State as the White Out, that option requires a decision. If Penn State-Ohio State kicks off at noon, would Penn State accept playing its biggest branded home game of the season during the day? Or would it shift the White Out to another home game (Penn State-Illinois is a potential prime-time start, for instance) to preserve the evening atmosphere?

"I’m probably a lot like the fans in terms of, I want it all," Franklin said. "And very few times in life do you get it all. You'd like the opponent and the time of day, for sure. But again, that's challenging. The time-of-day thing is what’s really become more difficult because of when primetime games now are chosen. ... Now, based on the different TV networks, it could be at 12, 7, or 3:30,. You don’t know based on what they think is going to draw the most eyes. I’m like the fans. I’d like it all but don’t know that yet."

Penn State has hosted 15 full-stadium White Out games at Beaver Stadium since 2007, when Notre Dame visited for the first. Since then, just one White Out game has kicked off earlier than 3:30 p.m. That was Michigan's 2015 visit, which was played Nov. 21. The game was Penn State only full-stadium White Out to kick off at noon and also the latest White Out played in a season. In fact, that was Penn State's last home game of the 2015 season.

Penn State certainly would like to schedule the 2024 White Out for Ohio State's visit, even if the game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET. However, the negotiating continues.

"If we want to provide the opponent and experience and the time of day that our fan base wants and expects, there’s a lot of pushing and pulling and compromising and working with the TV partners to try to find a win-win for everybody," Franklin said. "... The challenge with that, is we’ve got pressure across the campus as well because all the other [home-game] themes kind of have to wait for this one. And then all those other themes impact a bunch of different departments and a bunch of different places on campus. Fans want to know. The ticket office wants to know. Really across campus everything, from ROTC on down, is impacted."

Penn State opens the 2024 season Aug. 31 at West Virginia. The game is scheduled for a noon kickoff on FOX.