Auburn football star Derick Hall to Penn State: Our orange-out is better than your whiteout

Bennett Durando, Montgomery Advertiser
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AUBURN — An SEC vs. Big Ten matchup inherently creates debate about rivaling homefield advantages. Where is it more difficult to play on the road? The giant stadiums of Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan? Or the noisy pressure cookers of LSU, Florida and Auburn?

Derick Hall is a little biased, but he's also unafraid to offer his take before a premier game.

"I know our orange-out will be better than their whiteout," the Auburn football star said.

Last season, the Tigers visited Penn State on the week of the Nittany Lions' annual whiteout game, one of the most prominent color-coordinated crowd arrangements in the sport. ESPN's College Gameday was in town for the big event. Penn State made a goal-line stand in the final minutes to win 28-20.

Now the home-and-home series travels south to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT, CBS) for a rematch between the historic programs. The Nittany Lions (2-0) enter the game ranked No. 22.

Auburn (2-0) has asked all fans to wear orange to the game, and Hall broke some uniform news Monday: The Tigers will wear their flashy orange facemasks, a favorite among players.

Hall and linebacker Owen Pappoe both said they would love to wear orange jerseys as well, a relic not seen on the gridiron at Auburn in several decades. However, they both acknowledged, Auburn is perhaps too "traditional."

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"That's definitely something I would like to see," Hall said. "Just a little bit of a change-up."

"It would be sweet if that happened," Pappoe said. "I've mentioned it it to them a couple of times, even last year. ... I was told there's going to be a (uniform) surprise for us this year. I don't know which game it's going to be for, but they said there's going to be some type of surprise."

When asked what Penn State should expect from the atmosphere at Jordan-Hare, Hall said, "something they've never seen before is all I can say."

"I know they play in the Big Ten and it's a lot different experience there, but I know there's no place like Jordan-Hare."

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football star to Penn State: Our orange out beats your whiteout