Rivals250 WR Noah Rogers looks back on his White Out visit to Penn State
Penn State hosted one of North Carolina’s top prospects for its White Out game against Auburn on Sept. 18 in wide receiver Noah Rogers.
Listed at 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, Rogers earned an offer from the Nittany Lions back in March. A native of Rolesville, which is outside of Raleigh, Rogers has been primarily recruited by regional recruiter Ty Howle up to this point, who grew in Bunn, N.C., which is about about a 20-minute drive from Rogers’ high school. That connection has been one of the stronger relationships that Rogers has built to this point.
“Me and Coach Howle have been talking basically every week, sometimes twice a week,” Rogers said. “Also, I talk to Coach [James] Franklin sometimes and Coach [Taylor] Stubblefield, and recently [Football Operations Assistant] Chris Mahon.
“I like how much Coach Howle stays in contact with me. He’s always seeing how I’m doing, always trying to get me up there. I’ve only had a couple talks with Coach Franklin, but he’s really cool. A lot of other head coaches are kind of intense, but Coach Franklin is pretty cool. Even during an intense game, I was watching him during the Auburn game, and he never really lost his cool or anything like that. I noticed when one of his players made a mistake, he just tried to talk it out with them and doesn’t go too overboard.”
With Rolesville playing its games on Friday nights, Rogers said he caught a flight early Saturday morning to Pittsburgh before driving two hours to State College. He made it into town around 3 pm, and after buying a Penn State sweatshirt, he joined the pregame tailgate before heading into the recruiting lounge before the game.
“Man, it was so deep already,” Rogers said, referring to when he arrived at Beaver Stadium. “There were so many fans there. I went to the recruiting area then, got to go onto the field to watch warm ups and there were so many people already in the stadium. Like an hour before, it was filling up.
“I was standing out there during pregame and was thinking, ‘man, the people already in here are like a full stadium worth at some other big Division I schools,’ and that was just like one-fourth of the stadium filled at the beginning of warm ups. I thought that was pretty crazy. They’re so supportive, too. Another thing I liked is that they balance out the music so well with stuff everyone likes. I think that keeps all the fans into it. They just make a great atmosphere in there. During the game, they really know when to get behind their defense, and they do a good job with all that. They’re really faithful and loyal.”
As for the game itself, Rogers said he was impressed with how much Penn State spreads the ball around in the passing game.
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“I really liked how much Coach Stubblefield used all of his receivers. I love watching Jahan Dotson. He’s just electric,” he said. “I really watched him a lot and I loved how they used him in their offense. But really, if they see any player who has an advantage, they’re going to keep using him until the defense can stop him, and that’s when they just switch to the next guy. They can do it both ways, run it and throw it.”
Over the summer, Rogers took unofficial visits to Clemson, Duke, N.C. State, North Carolina and Wake Forest. He went to South Carolina this past weekend for its game against Kentucky and is planning to attend Wake Forest’s home game against Louisville this upcoming Saturday.
Overall, Rogers is up to 20 scholarship offers now. Clemson has yet to offer, but all the other schools he’s visited have. A few other notable programs include Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Rogers is currently ranked within the Rivals250 at No. 180 overall. He’s the 27th-ranked wide receiver and the second-ranked player in North Carolina. The Nittany Lions last signed a player from the Tar Heel State in 2017 in linebacker Brelin Faison-Walden, but so far, they’ve put themselves right in the mix with Rogers.
“They’re off to a great start with me," Rogers said. "I love what we have going on. They’re great coaches.”
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