COLUMBUS, Ohio –– Ryan Day and the Ohio State coaching staff are no doubt breathing a collective sigh of relief that they won’t have to contend with the vaunted “White Out” home crowd in Happy Valley this weekend, but one Buckeye player is not.
Preseason AP All-American cornerback Shaun Wade said Wednesday that if anything, he’s disappointed that the tradition won’t be taking place at Beaver Stadium.
“I love the White Out. It’s definitely a challenge, a big stage in college football, a big stage in our life as a Buckeye,” Wade said. “I really was looking forward to it this year, but it didn’t happen. But that’s probably one of the funnest and best games that I’ve ever been a part of in my college career.”
The last time Wade was on Penn State’s home turf, the matchup between Big Ten East Division foes was an instant-classic.
The White Out crowd had plenty to cheer about early when the Nittany Lions met the Buckeyes in September 2018, when Wade was just a redshirt freshman.
Penn State scored the first 13 points of the game, including a 93-yard touchdown from slot receiver K.J. Hamler, who beat Wade in one-on-one coverage on the play.
Wade’s memories about the White Out may not be quite as fond had the game kept following that same trajectory, but the Buckeyes began mounting their comeback shortly thereafter.
Still down 26-14 with eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Dwayne Haskins helped close things out for the Buckeyes with a 47-yard touchdown to Binjimen Victor (in which Victor did most of the work) and a 24-yard strike to K.J. Hill.
The Buckeyes won 27-26 to silence the Nittany Lion home crowd, and Wade wanted to feel that rush once again in what figures to be his final game against Penn State.
“I really love the White Out, I love the competition, I love their fans that’s trying to rile us up and all that, I love that," Wade said. "I love that, because at the end of the day, when we go there and we win, it shuts them up.”
Former Buckeye coach Urban Meyer, who was on the sideline for the aforementioned game and several other classic meetings with the Nittany Lions, said recently that the home-field advantage at Penn State is worth 10 points.
However, Wade’s comments might have you believe that the roaring White Out crowd actually gives the opposing team –– or at least some of its players –– a little bit of extra juice as well.
“I really wish they had it this year, but at the end of the day, COVID-19 hit, so you can’t do anything about it,” Wade said.
Crowd or not, the Buckeyes still face the task of challenging the No. 18-ranked Nittany Lions in their own backyard this Saturday, when the battle for Big Ten East supremacy gets underway at 7:30 p.m.
