Urban Meyer gives high praise to Penn State fans, home atmosphere

The “White Out” at Penn State is among the best atmospheres in college football. Urban Meyer coached in his share of White Out games while he was at Ohio State, so he knows how loud Beaver Stadium can get.

But it’s going to be a different setting when the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes face off this weekend. It’ll be a noon ET kickoff, and Meyer will be in attendance along with the rest of the FOX Big Noon Kickoff crew. Still, he thinks the fans will still show out because of the rivalry between the two schools.

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“That has turned out to be one of the best venues in all of college sport,” Meyer said on On3’s “Urban’s Take with Tim May” on Wednesday. “The White Out, when we were there … it seemed like we played 100 of them. The student body’s phenomenal, the way they set that thing up. … I’m anxious to see what it’s like as a noon game. Ohio State is the rival of Penn State. You can say whatever you want, but they [were] when I was coaching and they are now.

“The fans will be all over this one. Obviously, Penn State had a huge win against Minnesota. The quarterback looked tremendous. This was after a beatdown they took from the Wolverines. This is the game of the week in the Big Ten and, I think, in the country.”

Urban Meyer: The White Out was the most difficult place to play in college football

Meyer joked it’ll be different being back in State College with the Big Noon crew, but it’s not new for him to go back to a rival campus. He’s already been to Michigan multiple times this year, and he has plenty of experience preparing for the fans’ reception.

That said, he’s preparing for a packed house — even if such a big game is being played earlier in the day.

“The good thing is I’m old news,” Meyer said about the reception he’ll get. “I think there’ll be some people having some fun and all that. When I was at the Wolverines, the first time, it was kind of bizarre. But the second one, we had fun with hit. Like I said, people got a lot more things to worry about than me there at a game. I’m going to be as professional as I can. We have some great segments about the Penn State offense against Jim Knowles’ defense. That’s going to be my focus this week because I think that’s going to be the difference in the game.

“I’m anxious to see what it’s going to like. The White Out, I had, as the No. 1 most difficult place to play. You remember, we lost one and then we won several in great games. I mean, from overtime games to coming from back two scores down in the fourth quarter. The crowd, I imagine, they’re going to try to whip them up in a frenzy. That just means they’ll have to get up earlier and have a few cocktails before they get in that stadium, I guess. But this is the game. The weather should be fine. How [Sean] Clifford handles this defense is going to be the difference in the game.”