Nittany Sports Now is on the road to Indianapolis to cover Penn State and six other Big Ten schools at Day 1 of the 2023 Big Ten Media Days Wednesday afternoon in Indianapolis.
Penn State will be represented along with Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State and Rutgers, and myself and Austin Bechtold will be inside Lucas Oil Stadium to cover it.
PSU coach James Franklin will speak at 12:15. The three players representing Penn State are fifth-year seniors Keaton Ellis and Adisa Isaac and fourth-year OT Olu Fashanu. Ellis, a safety and Isaac, a defensive end, are two of Penn State’s defensive leaders, and Fashanu is expected to be one of the top picks in next year’s NFL draft.
Conference-wise, the big thing people will be watching is what will come out of the Northwestern camp. Interim coach David Braun will be speaking, which marks the first time in almost two decades that a coach not Pat Fitzgerald will be representing the school. Fitzgerald was fired amid a hazing scandal of which new details continue to emerge.
Northwestern and the other five schools represented will all be playing Penn State in 2023.
Coach Bret Bielema and Illinois are Penn State’s first conference opponent. The teams will play at Illinois Week 3. Kirk Ferentz and Iowa are Penn State’s White Out opponent, with that game scheduled for Sept. 23 at Beaver Stadium. Penn State takes on Northwestern on the road Sept. 30. Three weeks later, Penn State will be in Columbus to take on Ryan Day and Ohio State in what could be one of the most entertaining games of the Big Ten season Oct. 21 in Columbus and hosts Greg Schiano and Rutgers Nov. 18 in Senior Day at Beaver Stadium. Finally, Penn State will play Mel Tucker and Michigan State at Ford Field on Black Friday to end the regular season.
Nittany Sports Now will have it covered Wednesday. Here’s a schedule of who’s talking when.
11:00 a.m.: Illinois (HC Bret Bielema, DL Jer’zhan Newton, DL Keith Randolph Jr., WE Isaiah Williams
11:15 a.m.: Iowa (HC Kirk Ferentz, DB Cooper DeJean, TE Luke Lachey, LB Jay Higgins
11:30 a.m.: Michigan State (HC Mel Tucker, OG J.D. Duplain, LB Cal Haladay, WR Tre Mosley
11:45 a.m.: Northwestern (HC David Braun)
Noon: Ohio State (HC Ryan Day, WR Marvin Harrison Jr., TE Cade Stover, DE JT Tuimolau
12:15: Penn State (HC James Franklin, S Keaton Ellis, DE Adisa Isaac, OT Olu Fashanu
12:30: Rutgers (HC Greg Schiano, LB Deion Jennings, TE Johnny Langan, DL Aaron Lewis
