There is no college football experience like the Penn State White Out Game! We bring you a simple puzzle to highlight and honor that game. This was placed on the day of the 2024 White Out Game against Washington.There is no cache at the posted coords, and you must complete this simple puzzle to find the final. To an experienced puzzle cacher this may take you under a minute. The high difficulty is for the stealth that is required at the final. Enjoy and remember: We ARE!
History of the White Out Game
The “White Out” is a nationally recognized game hosted by Penn State football each year at Beaver Stadium. It is an atmosphere that embodies tradition and creates challenges for opposing teams with a sea of white shirts that students and fans sport throughout the stadium. The tradition of wearing white apparel during a Penn State football game began as a marketing campaign by Guido D’Elia in 2004. D’Elia was hired as Penn State’s director of branding and communications that year and was tasked with organizing the university’s fan experience.
In 2002, leading up to a much hyped up game against Nebraska, there was a fear that a "Sea of Red" would overtake the stands in Beaver Stadium. An email began to be circulated amongst Penn State fans to both wear blue to the game and not to sell their tickets to Cornhusker fans. Dubbed "Operation Visine" (to "get the red out"), this precursor to the modern White Out worked, as there was not only record attendance, most of whom were Penn State fans, but the Nittany Lions upset #7 Nebraska 40–7. This lead Penn State Athlletic Department to look into more themed games.
Reporters covering Penn State told D’Elia that Penn State had one of the quietest home crowds in college football, despite Beaver Stadium seating more than 107,000 fans. Can you imagine being told that Beaver Stadium was a quite experience today!? D’Elia and his team developed the idea that all Penn State students should wear white during one home football game.
With a marketing push on the campus, Penn State’s first “White Out” game took place on October 9, 2004, against Purdue. Despite a 20-13 loss, many students wore white and the event was considered a success.
Penn State defeated rival Ohio State 17-10 in the 2005 “White Out” game. The game was nationally televised, and at halftime ESPN sportscaster Kirk Herbstreit declared the “White Out” fans “the best student section in the country.” Later that month, Sports Illustrated called Penn State home football games “The Greatest Show in College Sports.”
In 2007, the “White Out” was made into a stadium-wide event, and the Nittany Lions comfortably beat Notre Dame 31-10 before a crowd of 110,000. Penn State’s fans “learned their impact” during the game, D’Elia said. “They really made a difference.”
Penn State has a 13-8 record in “White Out” games. The 2018 “White Out” game against Ohio State holds the Beaver Stadium attendance record of 110,899 spectators. 2024 saw Penn State host it's first Play Off White Out game: A 38-10 win over SMU.
Cache can be found at: N 40° 48.828' W 77° 51.303'