Penn State is off in week three of the 2024 college football season after narrowly escaping an upset bid from Bowling Green last weekend. That being said, there is still plenty of intriguing games to watch this weekend.
Below, Happy Valley Insider offers up three Big Ten games and three non-Big Ten games that could be worth watching for Penn State fans.
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12:00 p.m. (FOX): No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide at Wisconsin Badgers
REASON TO WATCH: Future opponent scouting - Wisconsin
The Alabama Crimson Tide make the trip to Camp Randall this weekend and are a two-touchdown favorite over the Wisconsin Badgers. The Crimson Tide are coming off a 42-16 win over USF, however, those who watched no it was a much closer game than the score would indicate. The performance last weekend raised questions about just how good the Crimson Tide are this season.
Wisconsin, now in their second season under head coach Luke Fickell have not looked sharp over their first two games, defeating Western Michigan 28-14 before struggling with FCS opponent South Dakota this past weekend in a 27-13 win. The Badgers were expected to make significant strides this season, but their early performances have been underwhelming. Perhaps they were looking ahead to Alabama? We’ll find out on Saturday afternoon.
3:30 p.m. (FOX): No. 9 Oregon Ducks at Oregon State Beavers
REASON TO WATCH: Can Oregon find their footing ? + Big rivalry matchup
Oregon is 2-0 on the early season and defeated a potential playoff team in Boise State last week but the Ducks haven't exactly instilled confidence in those watching them from both close and afar. They'll face off against their arch-rival Oregon State this weekend and these two programs have had some exciting matchups in previous seasons. The Ducks are a sizeable favorite over the Beavers but if the Ducks show some of the cracks they have in weeks one and two, this one could be come a fun one to watch in Corvallis.
3:30 p.m. (CBS): No. 18 Notre Dame at Purdue Boilermakers
REASON TO WATCH: Potential playoff implications regarding Notre Dame
There are playoff implications in West Lafayette on Saturday. While Notre Dame's playoff hopes are already potentially on life support after their shocking loss to Northern Illinois, a potential loss to Purdue on Saturday would all but eliminate the Fighting Irish from contention as an Independent program, or at least it should. The line in this one is only 9.5 points in favor of Notre Dame, which tells you that Vegas and sharp bettors are not thinking highly at all of this Fighting Irish team.
7:30 p.m. (NBC): Indiana at UCLA
REASONS TO WATCH: Future opponent scouting - UCLA
An intriguing matchup here in Los Angeles. Indiana through their first two games under Curt Cignetti has looked very good while UCLA is 1-0 in the Deshaun Foster era and coming off a bye week following a 16-13 victory over Hawai'i.
This matchup should give us a good indication of where both programs are heading into mid-September. Penn State won't face the Hoosiers this season but is Indiana as good as they've looked through weeks one and two? Additionally, it provides a good early scouting chance of the UCLA Bruins, who be making a trip to Happy Valley on October 5.
Non-Big Ten games to watch
(FRIDAY) No. 20 Arizona vs No. 14 Kansas State - REASONS TO WATCH: Big 12 race, playoff implications
With the Big 12 likely only to have one playoff team this postseason, this is a crucial early season matchup between two of the conference's top teams in Arizona and Kansas State. Kansas State is a 7.5 point favorite as of Friday morning.
No. 16 LSU vs South Carolina: 12:00 p.m. ABC - REASONS TO WATCH: Crucial matchup for both sides
Gameday is in Columbia this weekend as South Carolina fresh off a big win over Kentucky will play host to the LSU Tigers. Both teams have plenty of questions surrounding them coming into this weekend, this should be an interesting matchup to watch.
No. 24 Boston College vs No. 6 Missouri: 12:45 p.m. SEC Network - REASONS TO WATCH: Former Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien
Former Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien will look to lead Boston College to a second top-10 win in their first three weeks of the season as they travel to Columbia to take on the Missouri Tigers. The Tigers are a threat in the SEC this year thanks to their tremendous offense but as we've seen with Boston College, the Eagles offense is pretty darn good this fall as well. This should be a fun matchup with these high-powered offenses.
West Virginia vs Pittsburgh: 3:30 p.m. ESPN2 - REASONS TO WATCH: Major rivalry game
It's time for another installment of the Backyard Brawl as the Mountaineers who Penn State defeated in week one handily will make the quick drive to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers at Accisure Stadium. West Virginia is a one point favorite as of Friday morning and this has a chance to be a shootout considering the level of play that we've seen previously out of the West Virginia secondary. Good quarterback matchup here as well between Pittsburgh's Eli Holstein and West Virginia's Garret Greene.
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