People have known for almost two weeks now that the Penn State-Ohio State game scheduled for Oct. 21 would be Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” game of the week.
Joel Klatt, who is the color commentator for those games, on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” Wednesday, Sept. 27.
But now, it’s official.
Happy Monday! 🚨 Week 8️⃣ @bigten kickoff times and networks 🚨. pic.twitter.com/d0iETmi5F8
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) October 9, 2023
This years edition of Penn State-Ohio State will kick off at noon. This will be the third time in the past five years that PSU-OSU have played in the daylight. Last year’s game— a 44-31 Ohio State win at Beaver Stadium— was a scheduled noon kick, as was the 2019 game in Columbus, which Ohio State also won, 28-17. The 2020 and ‘21 games— two more Ohio State wins— were played under the lights.
Penn State hasn’t had much success against Ohio State historically, and the James Franklin era hasn’t been an exception.
Ohio State’s 8-1 against Penn State since Franklin took over as head coach in 2014.
Historically, Ohio State leads the all-time series, 23-14. Since PSU started playing in the Big Ten in 1993, OSU is 23-7, meaning that Penn State won the first seven meetings. This will be Penn State’s fourth Big Noon game since the start of the 2022 season. PSU lost both of last year’s Big Noon games— one against Ohio State, the other at Michigan—, but won its most recent Big Noon matchup, beating Illinois, 30-13, Sept. 17.
This will be a huge matchup for both teams. Ohio State is 5-0 and ranked No. 3 in both polls. Penn State’s also 5-0 and ranked No. 5 in the Coaches Poll and sixth in the AP. It would no doubt be a landmark win for Franklin.
