FOOTBALL

Penn State white out helps in recruiting game

Christian Arnold
carnold@GameTimePA.com
Penn State head football coach James Franklin greets fans before an NCAA Division I college football game Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, at Beaver Stadium. Penn State is hosting Ohio State.

Mac Hippenhammer walked up to Beaver Stadium soaking in his surroundings. The Penn State football commit was taking in his first football game in Happy Valley on Saturday, as the Nittany Lions hosted their annual whiteout game against Ohio State.

“This is the atmosphere right here,” Hippenhammer said as he got closer to the stadium.

The excitement then started to grow on his face.

It was the atmosphere that was on display Saturday that helped convince Hippenhammer to commit to playing his collegiate football for the Nittany Lions. And it’s that atmosphere that has helped persuade numerous players to play for the blue and white over the years.

“That’s the reason why you go to Penn State really,” Hippenhammer said. “Just to be in that atmosphere really. Just to experience that. For me being a commit, it makes it that much better. Knowing that this is where I’ll be in the next year and this is where I’ll be playing football at.”

Hippenhammer got the experience he was hopping for on Saturday night. Beaver Stadium was as loud as ever as the 100,000 plus made their presence known throughout the evening.

Creating a hostile environment for opposing teams is something that Penn State fans take pride in. Penn State senior Sahil Desai remembered the 2014 white out game and the impact the fans had on the Buckeyes back then.

And being able to help play a role in recruiting process is something that Desai takes very seriously.

“We’re doing Nittanyville, we camped out here,” Desai said. “We’re doing this for our school. It’s awesome. It’s like a big part of our culture and really shows who Penn State is.”

Senior Jeremy Barnhart echoed a similar sentiment as he stood outside the stadium before the game.

“I hope that people who are hoping to come to Penn State just for football, academics, what have you, see this game,” Barnhart said. “And understand that Penn State is more than just a university. It’s a huge family and we’re welcome to have anyone come here and join us.”

Players present and future appear to be hearing the message. Leading up to Saturday's primetime event, players raved about the white out game and the atmosphere that comes along with it.

Nittany Lions cornerback Grant Haley called the fans the team’s 12th man and head coach James Franklin said during his weekly teleconference the “white out exemplifies what this place is all about.”

“I think obviously if you talk about from a recruiting perspective, the people have a chance to get a taste of that,” Frankiln said.  “And when you see it and when you're around it, it's something that you say, hey, this is something really special that I would like to be a part of.”