5 takeaways from Penn State’s 2024 Big Ten football schedule
The new-look Big Ten released its 2024 football schedule Thursday afternoon, and with 18 teams now in the fold, the slate of marquee matchups is even more extensive. It is never too early to look ahead to next year and which opponents are lined up to face Penn State. There is an endless amount of intrigue with the additions of four West Coast powers: UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington.
Here is a look at some of our top takeaways from the 2024 schedule.
Penn State’s 2024 home opener includes some history
The Nittany Lions Sept. 28 date with the Illinois Fighting Illini marks the first time in nine years (2015) Penn State will open Big Ten play at home. That season was James Franklin’s second season as head coach when his team’s conference-opening win against Rutgers began a 4-4 Big Ten season.
A five-game stretch for the ages
After the Fighting Illini leave town, the Nittany Lions welcome in their first post-realignment foe, the UCLA Bruins, on Oct. 5. A cross-country trip to Los Angeles follows with a date at the LA Coliseum on 10/12. USC represents Penn State’s first conference road game of the season and their first matchup against the Trojans since the 2017 Rose Bowl, where Sam Darnold outdueled Trace McSorley 52-49 in an instant classic. Could a repeat be on the horizon?
Despite a bye week post-USC, the Nittany Lions get little relief and must go into Camp Randall and face Luke Fickell’s second Badgers’ team, which is never an easy task. Consecutive home games against Ohio State and Washington, respectively, round out a doozy of a stretch that will essentially define Penn State’s 2024 season.
Three new conference opponents for Penn State
Penn State faces three of the four new Big Ten schools (no Oregon this year), tied with Michigan for the most matchups with newcomers among “pre-realignment” Big Ten schools. New opponents create new storylines, and to have three of them on the schedule brings a whole new level of intrigue to Big Ten football. Penn State has not faced UCLA since 1968, and last faced Washington in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl, where former Nittany Lion Saquon Barkley ran for 145 yards and two scores.
Two bye-weeks
The Nittany Lions will have their first bye week between their second (Bowling Green) and final non-conference game (Kent State). Penn State’s second bye week will come after their cross-country trip to Southern California, a scheduling niche that the Big Ten wanted to implement to ease the transition into three different time zones. However, this sort of reprieve might not be the case every year.
Who's the biggest draw for Beaver Stadium?
Is it a formidable Big Ten foe of the past? One of the new powerhouse from out west? It’s a tricky question to answer, no doubt, but we’ll try to take a stab at answering it.
TV time slots will play a significant factor, but after years of being primarily Ohio State or Michigan, a new team will experience Happy Valley at its peak. UCLA is the pick for me as the biggest draw and quite possibly the White Out game. Nittany Lions fans are excited to watch the new-look conference, and the Bruins mark their first opportunity to do so. Expect Beaver Stadium to be rocking for this matchup, White Out or not.
