Saturday, October 10. Kickoff 7:30 PM ET on NBC and Peacock.
Where the parking fills, how far the walk is, and how to ride to the gates instead.
The White Out is the one every Penn State fan circles on the schedule. When the lights come on at Beaver Stadium and more than a hundred thousand people are dressed head to toe in white, there is nothing else like it in college football. This year it lands on the biggest possible night, Saturday, October 10, with USC in town, a 7:30 PM ET kickoff, and the game carried on NBC and Peacock.
A night game is a different animal from a noon start. The whole day belongs to the tailgates. Lots open early, the parking decks around campus fill through the afternoon, and by early evening the roads into the stadium area are moving at a crawl. The game is the easy part. Getting in, and getting out, is where most people lose an hour they did not plan to.
With an evening start, the crowd builds slowly all day and then arrives almost at once. The hours before kickoff are the tightest, and the exit afterward is worse, because everyone leaves at the same time and the walk back to the lots happens in the dark with the whole stadium emptying around you.
The East, Eisenhower and Nittany decks are the closest paid options, and they are the first to go. Once they are full, the overflow pushes you farther out, which turns a short walk into a long one in game day shoes. None of that is a problem if you have decided ahead of time how you are getting to the gates.
Our full guide to Penn State game day transportation and parking covers where every deck and lot sits, how early each one tends to fill as kickoff approaches, and what the walk to the gates actually looks like from each. The short version is simple. The closer you want to park, the earlier you need to be there, and on a White Out night the margins are tighter than any other game of the season.
This is where a reserved ride earns its place. Vamos Lion Chariot runs prearranged game day rides between the East, Eisenhower and Nittany decks, downtown State College, the hotels and the tailgates. You park once, or you do not park at all, and you ride to the gates instead of walking the last stretch in the cold.
Rides typically run $50 to $100 per chariot and carry two to three passengers. They have to be arranged before game day and are not guaranteed until confirmed, so the earlier you call, the better your window. Most reserved rides run before kickoff, because postgame is the hardest time to move anyone through the crowds. We have been riding this campus since 2012, so we know which routes stay open when the main roads do not.
Saturdays fill fast, and the White Out fills fastest of all. If you want a ride to the gates on October 10, lock it in now rather than the morning of the game.
Call or text (814) 404-2782 to reserve your White Out ride before kickoff.