Penn State coach James Franklin to fans: Bring the noise against Ohio State

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State coach James Franklin is asking fans this weekend to create the most challenging atmosphere in the history of college football.

"There needs to be a significant home-field advantage," Franklin said. "I'm expecting we'll have 110,000-plus in the stands, and I'm expecting we'll have another 10,000 fans outside of the stadium."

No. 4 Ohio State will visit Beaver Stadium to take on No. 9 Penn State in the Nittany Lions' annual whiteout game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

"It's the best place to be," defensive end Shareef Miller said. "I remember 2014, I was a recruit and I came to the whiteout game and they played Ohio State, I wanted to commit on spot. The atmosphere was nothing like I've seen before."

For the second season in a row and ninth all-time, Penn State and Ohio State will meet while both are ranked in the AP Top 10. Both teams are also undefeated.

"We're excited about this opportunity," Franklin said. "We have a tremendous challenge against maybe, what I'd make the argument for, the most talented roster in college football. We are going to have to play well."

Penn State (55.5 points per game, first in the nation) and Ohio State (54.5, second) are the highest-scoring teams in the country. Ohio State also brings an elite defense.

"They are a tremendous defense as there is," quarterback Trace McSorley said of the Buckeyes. "They're really talented, especially up front. That's kind of been their staple for the last couple years."

The last time the Buckeyes traveled to Happy Valley for a whiteout, an unranked Penn State erased a 14-point deficit to defeat then-No. 2 Ohio State in 2016, marking the first time Penn State defeated a top-2 team since 1990 against No. 1 Notre Dame.

"When you look at the schedule, you always wanna see where Ohio State is," wide receiver Juwan Johnson said. "But as we said before, we always gotta treat every game the same."