No. 3 Penn State takes part in its first ranked match-up of the season with No. 6 Oregon coming to Happy Valley for the White Out. The Nittany Lions last saw the Ducks in Indianapolis, falling 45-37 in the Big Ten Championship last December.

Two of our staffers debated whether or not Penn State fans should storm the field with a win over Oregon on Saturday.

Sean Regenye: Yes, Fans Should Storm The Field

It has been nine years since Penn State last stormed the field when a blocked field goal sealed the upset versus No. 2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Since then, Penn State has beaten just one of its Big Ten rivals at home in a ranked matchup – they didn’t rush the field then, and they also haven’t accomplished anything since then. Last season, their most successful season of the decade, Penn State lost its one big home matchup to Ohio State.

All of this to say that Penn State hasn’t had a thrilling victory at home over a Big Ten rival in years, and the fans are desperate for one. The fans yearn for a field storm, something they haven’t experienced in nine seasons of Nittany Lion football because there’s only been one opportunity. We have finally got a meaningful regular-season White Out game, and who knows when we’ll get one again, so let’s make something of it.

Penn State football has been without high vibes this season. Drew Allar still hasn’t taken that leap into Heisman voting, and the playcalling feels vanilla. They’ve beaten up on three unworthy opponents all to lead up to the biggest home game of the year. A White Out win over a dominant Big Ten team will lift the vibe, but that’s not enough. They need to electrify this fanbase and this college town: How about a White Out win with fans walking the field goal posts down College Avenue, mobs in the street, and JBLs blasting Zombie Nation? This football team needs something like that; for too many years, this program has felt complacent with its top 10 status, and a field storm might be the spark that gets them going.

Sure, Penn State is ranked third, and Oregon trails three spots behind them, but rankings should not factor into whether a fanbase can storm the field. The difference between Oregon’s ranking and Penn State’s is two SEC teams; they are two of the top three teams in the Big Ten, and their spots are interchangeable. This is a top 10-ranked matchup on the biggest stage in college sports; what more reason do you need?

Fans are spending north of $200 for tickets and even up to $700 for the student section. With those prices, you might as well leave with a piece of the field.

Ryan McInerney: No, Fans Shouldn’t Storm The Field

Now, there’s no official rule on when or when not to storm the field, but I feel like it goes without saying that if you’re the higher-ranked team, you should stay put in the stands.

Some fans will point to the abysmal 4-20 record the Nittany Lions hold against AP top-10 teams under James Franklin, and say this game could potentially be a generation win. But, if Penn State fans storm the field after a victory on Saturday, not only does Penn State’s integrity as a program take a hit, but it would also take away from the belief that the Nittany Lions belong in talks with the nation’s best programs. It turns a win over No. 6 Oregon into a “No way we just beat them!” when in reality, this is the caliber of competition Penn State should expect to compete with week in and week out.

Storming the field is supposed to be reserved for the best upsets. One of the best examples is Chris Davis’ 109-yard ‘kick-six’ to beat No. 1 Alabama in the 2013 Iron Bowl. But in today’s college football landscape, it feels like every Saturday I scroll through Instagram and see another field storm, or fans carrying the field-goal posts out of a stadium. At this point, it’s less about genuine excitement and more about jumping on the trend.

I still remember back in 2021 when No. 3 Iowa beat No. 4 Penn State, and Hawkeye fans stormed the field in Iowa City. To this day, I still think that was lame. Iowa was the higher-ranked team, so what exactly were they celebrating? Sure, it was their highest-ranked win in program history, but to me, it still cheapened the moment and made it feel like an upset win, when it really wasn’t.

At the end of the day, storming the field should be set aside for the games that define a program’s legacy. Not just because you beat a team ranked a few spots below you. Save the field forms for when they truly matter; that way, the moment actually means something when it comes around in full.