It was announced on Sunday morning that Penn State’s upcoming Big Ten clash with Northwestern will be televised on ESPN.
The game will kickoff at 3:30 p.m on Saturday afternoon as previously announced. The Nittany Lions (4-0, 1-0) are coming off a 33-14 win over the MAC’s Central Michigan Chippewas. Northwestern has struggled since their season opening win over Nebraska. The Wildcats are coming off their third straight loss on Saturday, falling to Miami (OH) 17-14, coming just one week after the Wildcats fell to FCS opponent Southern Illinois 31-24.
For Penn State, it will be their last game prior to their week six bye week. Following their week off, the Nittany Lions will begin a gauntlet of at Michigan and home against Minnesota and Ohio State. All three programs are currently undefeated and enjoyed conference wins in week four.
Penn State’s 4-0 start is the sixth time they’ve done so under James Franklin and fifth time in six years. That being said, despite a comfortable 33-14 win over the Chippewas, the Nittany Lions performance on Saturday left more bit to be desired including by head coach James Franklin. “Obviously, a lot to be proud of and a big reason why we’re 1-0 today,” Franklin said in his opening statement following the win. “But there’s things that we have to get cleaned up and corrected. Overall, we’re happy to be 1-0, we’ll enjoy it for the night. We need to get better next week, starting on Sunday.”
All-time Penn State is 14-5 against Northwestern but are 1-2 against the Wildcats under James Franklin. The last time the two programs matched up was in 2017, a 31-7 win for the Nittany Lions in Evanston. Saturday will mark the Wildcats first trip to Happy Valley in over 8 years, the last coming in 2014, where Northwestern knocked off Penn State 29-6.
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