James Franklin addresses the possibility of a 'White Out' for home College Football Playoff game

Can you imagine a Penn State white out in the College Football Playoff? James Franklin wouldn’t rule it out at Big Ten Media Days.

Usually the white out is reserved for one game a year and this season, Penn State will pull it off against Washington. But if the Nittany Lions were to make the playoff, but not get a first round bye, they could do it again.

Remember, the first round is full of on-campus games and Franklin could be a fan of an additional white out, with some help from the weather.

“I will say this, something that me and Pat (Kraft) really haven’t talked about up to this point, but we feel very strongly that there should be one white out a year,” Franklin said. “We’re able to create some really cool environments with a stripe out, a helmet stripe, which is very close to a white out, we’re able to create some really good environments for the throwback game. I think it’s up for discussion with myself, Pat and others to say, ‘hey, we only do one white out a year, but if we would have a home playoff game, is that something to discuss?’ 

“This is a different model in college football and we want to do everything we possibly can to put us in the best position to be successful. And if that gives us a little bit extra juice in between Pat Kraft and Mother Nature, we may have one of the biggest white outs we’ve ever had.”

So with white outs, playoff expectations and more, Franklin knows it’s a blessing and a curse at Penn State.

“It is a blessing and a curse,” Franklin told On3’s Andy Staples during Big Ten Media Days. “To be able to coach at a place that has really high expectations or standards — I don’t even know that somebody said today over 11 years we’ve averaged nine wins. A lot of programs in the country with die for that, right And I think on top of that, we’ve been so close so many times.

“But again, this is a place that’s got really high expectations and standards. We embrace that. We talk about that with recruits. Every coach we hire knows that, so that comes with the territory. That also comes with 107,000 seat stadium — you don’t fill up 107,000 seat stadium with people that aren’t passionate about what we do. It is a blessing and a curse and we embrace both sides.”