Penn State football’s 2024 season got off to an ideal start Saturday with a 34-12 win over West Virginia in Morgantown.
The game had months of buildup and plenty of national attention, as evidence by the fact that it was tabbed for Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff with Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt on the call.
So how many people watched the game?
Per the ratings, just short of three million people tuned in (2.99M) This is down from last season’s PSU-WVU game, which took place under the Beaver Stadium lights and drew 3.5 million viewers. It also ranks below Penn State’s Big Noon games at Illinois (3.2) Ohio State (9.6) and at home against Michigan (9.1) as well as its game with Indiana (3.4) that took place at Noon on CBS.
Elsewhere in college football, USC and LSU topped the weekend at 9.2, greatly helped by the fact that both teams are in the top 25 and it was a Sunday night standalone clash.
ABC’s Saturday night game between Notre Dame and Texas A&M— which is where ESPN’s College GameDay was— topped the Saturday slate at 8.2.
Georgia’s 34-3 demolition of Clemson wasn’t far off at 7.9. Miami’s win at in-state rival Florida came in at 6.6 and Ohio State’s blowout of Akron in Columbus came in not far behind Penn State-West Virginia at 2.97.
The Penn State-West Virginia game also featured a 139-minute weather delay. SportsMediaWatch reported that “the pre-delay portion of Penn State’s win was the most-watched college football telecast of the weekend outside of ESPN/ABC.”
It’s supposed to rain again in Happy Valley this Saturday for Penn State’s home opener against Bowling Green. But rain or shine, that game is set to kickoff at noon on the Big Ten Network.
Nittany Sports Now will be there in person for all the action.
