ESPN’s College GameDay crew came to a near consensus when picking the Penn State-Oregon White Out on Saturday.
The crew, including Penn State legend LaVar Arrington as the guest picker, went 4-1 in favor of the Nittany Lions over the Ducks.
Former Michigan star Desmond Howard was the lone Oregon choice.
Legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban picked Penn State. He highlighted the Lions’ rushing attack and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ scheme as the X-factors.
Kirk Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback, mentioned how great Oregon coach Dan Lanning is at getting his teams ready for environments like the White Out. But he emphasized how tough Beaver Stadium can be and picked Penn State with running backs Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton as the difference.
No one should be surprised that Arrington picked Penn State. But he was loving the spotlight and had the crowd chanting Penn State when he asked “Who’s going to win this game?”
Finally, McAfee faked out the crowd en route to picking Penn State. He said Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq and quarterback Dante Moore are stars.
But he went on to say he’s from Pittsburgh and called Pennsylvania the “State of Football.” Then he started a “We Are” chant, ripped his shirt off and chugged a beer with Arrington.
The GameDay set had high energy all morning, and the same should be expected inside Beaver Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
James Franklin said, “This will be the best environment in the history of college football tonight.” Bold words.