Dan Lanning admits Oregon is preparing for Penn State crowd by playing Mo Bamba in practice: 'I don't love that song'

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is doing whatever it takes for his team to be prepared for their showdown against Penn State this weekend. On Monday, Lanning admitted he will be playing the song, “Mo Bamba” — which Penn State blasts at its home games — at Oregon practices, in order to replicate the impending road environment.

“It’ll play a couple times,” Lanning said. “We’ll do everything we can to be prepared for that environment for sure. I don’t love that song.”

It isn’t the first time Lanning has played opposing fanbases’ favorite songs at practice to mimic an upcoming foe’s home-field advantage. Lanning also previously played the song, “Jump Around,” at an Oregon practice to prepare his team for a game at Wisconsin.

Penn State’s tradition of playing “Mo Bama” is still relatively new. The song first blared over Beaver Stadium’s speakers in 2019, when Penn State hosted No. 16 Michigan.

The raucous Nittany Lions crowd sang along to the song so loudly that then-Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was forced to call a timeout to avoid a delay-of-game penalty. Since then, “Mo Bama” has been a staple at Penn State home games.

Penn State diehards won’t lack energy when Oregon comes to Happy Valley on Saturday. The game is a “White Out,” meaning Penn State fans will attend the game in all white attire.

White Out games arguably produce the best atmosphere in college football, and typically only occur once per season at Penn State. On Monday, Penn State head coach James Franklin challenged his fans to be even more passionate than usual for the Nittany Lions’ showdown against Oregon.

“We need to be on our feet screaming a collective battle cry in the stadium,” Franklin said. “We’re going to need everybody’s help… Need to have a distinct home-field advantage. We always do, but I’m expecting this to be an environment like no one has ever seen.

“Urban Meyer always has discussions and debates on what’s the what’s the hardest place to play in college football. I think he usually says between Penn State White Out at night and and an LSU night game. So we want to make it clearly obvious to everybody what is the most challenging and difficult environment to play in all of sports, let alone college football.”

Dan Lanning and his Ducks will look to quiet Penn State’s crowd. On Saturday, Oregon and Penn State will square off at 4:30 p.m. PT. The game will air live on NBC.