Penn State’s trip to Michigan is off the night-game stage.
The Big Ten announced kickoff windows for its Oct. 17 schedule on Monday, and the Penn State-Michigan matchup in Ann Arbor will start at 3:30 p.m. ET at Michigan Stadium. Broadcast details have not yet been set, but the game will not land in the prime-time slot many had expected.
The afternoon kickoff comes with both teams stuck in unusual territory. Penn State is 0-2 in Big Ten play for the second straight season after a 34-13 loss at Northwestern on Friday, a game in which the Wildcats piled up 413 rushing yards and held the Nittany Lions to 48.
Michigan is also 0-2 in the league after falling 20-14 to Minnesota, a result that left the Wolverines in that position for the first time since 2014, Brady Hoke’s final season in charge. Minnesota also claimed the Little Brown Jug on its home field for the first time in 49 years.
"I'm still trying to figure it out. I've been in this profession for 40-plus years, and this is the biggest challenge I've had," Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham said.
"We will get it figured out, I promise you that. I'm not sure what the timeline is, but I promise you we'll get it figured out at some juncture.
A lot of answers that we've got to come up with, because we've so many deficiencies."
The matchup will be the first between Penn State and Michigan since 2023, when the Wolverines won 24-14 on the way to the national championship. Michigan has taken three straight in the series and owns a 17-10 edge in Big Ten play.
Penn State has had a rough time in Ann Arbor, too. The Nittany Lions are 4-10 at Michigan Stadium and have won there only once since 2009, that coming in a 27-17 victory during the 2020 Covid season.
The Michigan game is only part of a difficult stretch for Penn State. Before that road trip, the Nittany Lions return home for their lone ranked opponent on the regular-season schedule, No.
19 USC. The Trojans will be at Beaver Stadium on Saturday for the first time since 1994, and the game will serve as Penn State’s annual White Out.
This year’s White Out carries a different look than last season’s did. A year ago, Penn State hosted Oregon as the unbeaten No. 2 team in the country. Now, Matt Campbell’s first White Out comes with Penn State already carrying two Big Ten losses for the first time since 2016.
The slump has already shown up in the market, where White Out ticket prices on the resale side have dropped by more than half since the Northwestern defeat. Penn State has yet to beat a Power 4 team this season, and offensive lineman Cooper Cousins tried to steer the locker room toward the right mindset after the loss.
"The biggest thing is, you can have a victim mentality or a victor mentality," Cousins said late Friday night at New Ryan Field. "So my biggest focus, not only for the team right now but even for myself, is to not have a victim mentality, because we’ve got a good opponent next week and we've got to get ready to go."
Kickoff for Penn State-USC is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC's Big Ten Saturday Night.
In Other News...
Penn State Fans Wont Like What An In-State Rival Coach Said
Pat Narduzzi had plenty to say after Pitts close win over Virginia Tech, and much of it was bound to land with Penn State fans as a familiar jab from across the state. The Pitt coach addressed a controversial missed field goal in that game, then turned his attention to the AP Top 25, questioning Penn States placement despite the recent losses that have piled up for the Nittany Lions.
Narduzzi also used the moment to make a case for his own program, pointing to Pitts undefeated start and current ranking as proof his team deserves more respect. It was the latest reminder that the tension between Pitt and Penn State remains very much alive, with Narduzzi continuing a public back-and-forth that has long carried extra weight in a rivalry shaped by him and former Penn State coach James Franklin. [Read more 🡒]
Penn States Early Big Ten Slide Suddenly Looks Like A Bigger Problem
Two weeks into Big Ten play, the leagues shape is already starting to tell a familiar story at the top, with the conference heavyweights still looking the part while some of the preseason contenders are scrambling to catch up. Penn State is in that second group after an uneven start that has made the early standings feel less like a snapshot and more like a warning sign, especially with the Big Tens path to multiple College Football Playoff bids depending on its best teams stacking wins and avoiding the kind of stumbles that can linger all fall.
The Nittany Lions are not alone in that bind, but their position carries extra weight because expectations were so high before league play began. Washington is facing its own early trouble, and several coaching situations around the conference are already under a sharper spotlight, yet Penn States slide stands out because it changes the margin for error so quickly. If the league is going to earn the depth it needs at the top, the teams that were supposed to anchor it cannot keep giving ground this early. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Just Lost The Spotlight For A Huge Michigan Trip
Penn States trip to Michigan on October 17 no longer has the feel of a late-night showcase. The Big Ten announced the game at Michigan Stadium will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET, pulling it out of the prime-time window many had anticipated and shifting some of the national spotlight away from what had shaped up as one of the leagues more intriguing midseason matchups.
It still carries plenty of weight in the Big Ten race, though. Both teams are 0-2 in conference play, which is the first time that has happened to Penn State since it joined the league in 1993, and that makes the meeting even more important for two programs trying to steady themselves. Before that trip, Penn State gets its own marquee stage Saturday night, hosting No. 19 USC in a White Out game at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCs Big Ten Saturday Night. [Read more 🡒]