Penn State to Face Iowa in the 2023 Whiteout

The Penn State football team released their game themes for the 2023 home games on Monday afternoon. The debate finally ended on who will be the whiteout opponent for the 2023 season.

There were some who expected it to be West Virginia after finding out the 2023 home-opener will be at 7:30 PM on NBC; however, they will get the helmet stripe game. It will be the Iowa Hawkeyes who will serve as the whiteout opponent in 2023.

I’m a big fan of this, a lot of the Penn State faithful have not forgotten how painful it was the last time these two teams faced off in Iowa City. Back in 2021, it felt like the Nittany Lions had the Hawkeyes on the back ropes until Sean Clifford suffered a game-ending injury. After Clifford exited the game, everything fell apart. The offense couldn’t move the ball and the defense could only hold on for so long.

The other aspect that many Penn State fans will remember from that game was the Iowa fans booing every Penn State injury during that game. Some players like the PJ Mustipher suffered season-ending injuries but it seemed as if the Iowa fans believed the Nittany Lions were faking these injuries. After the game ended and the news was released about the availability of these players moving forward, I think a lot of Nittany Nation lost respect for the Iowa fans.

I’m sure Coach Franklin and his staff will not forget that game when the Hawkeyes come to Happy Valley. For a team that has struggled in recent years to produce any offense and a defense that lost two first-round picks on the defensive side of the ball, the Hawkeyes will look to reload in 2023. Iowa will have former Michigan QB Cade McNamara under center this season, but the rest of their offense is yet to be proven on the field.

Shoutout to CBS for taking this game and putting it into a primetime spot. Penn State will be searching for revenge on September 23rd, 2023 at 8 PM on CBS in the annual whiteout game.