It's Penn State-Northwestern week: What channel is the game on, and when is kickoff? Early storylines and more

Penn State football opens the October portion of its schedule on Saturday when Northwestern comes to Beaver Stadium. It starts the all Big Ten part of the team’s 2022 slate. The Lions are 4-0 after knocking off Central Michigan 33-14 in State College.

“It’s really just focusing on game to game, not looking ahead and not looking at anything else but the opportunity that presents itself from day to day,” defensive tackle PJ Mustipher said.

“We have to take each day seriously, whether it’s tomorrow or whether it’s Monday. Our preparation is key and if we can focus on what we’re doing that day, then it’ll just carry on throughout the season and we’ll be right where we want to be.”

It’s time to get ready for Week 4 and Penn State-Northwestern. Read on to prepare for kickoff.

Time and TV info

ESPN will air Saturday’s Lions-Wildcats matchup. The announcing crew was not yet available as of the time of this post. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET. It’s the second time Penn State will play in that time slot this year.

What is the Penn State-Northwestern spread?

The Lions are a 25-point favorite.

Game week schedule for Penn State

Penn State will have a regular media schedule this week.

Tuesday will see player interviews and a lengthy news conference with Franklin at lunchtime. On Wednesday, more player calls will take place in addition to a chance to watch practice plus another opportunity to interview Franklin and a player.

Thursday brings the Penn State Coaches Show, which Franklin typically appears on for the last half hour, and that will be it for the week until Saturday after the game.

What’s up with the Wildcats?

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald’s team is 1-3 after dropping a 17-14 stunner to MAC foe Miami of Ohio at home on Saturday. Northwestern’s only win of the season came in a squeaker over Nebraska in both team’s season opener, which was played in Dublin, Ireland. The Wildcats were not seen as Big Ten West contenders entering the season. But, they’ve been worse than expected through four weeks.

“They did a great job in crunch time when it needed to happen,” Fitzgerald told reporters after the loss. “Again, we had inopportune turnovers, the worst times to give up a couple of explosive plays when we had fit things for the most part pretty well.”

Northwestern has struggled to produce much of anything on the ground thus far. And, it’s tossed three interceptions to five touchdowns, so that part of the offense isn’t exactly thriving, either, even if it has the conference’s third-best passing offense statistically.

Penn State-Northwestern notes

–Penn State is 14-5 all-time against Northwestern. The Lions won the last meeting between the schools 31-7 back in 2017 at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill.

–The Wildcats were last in State College in 2014. It took a 29-6 contest that day.

–NW has just one Pennsylvania native on its roster. Lansdale, Pa., native and offensive lineman Vincent Picozzi has played in two games so far.

Weather outlook

The early Weather.com forecast calls for an overcast day with rain showers at times. A high of 61 degrees is expected.

Early Penn State-Northwestern storylines

–Can Penn State take advantage of the Wildcats’ run defense? It’s the second-worst in the Big Ten through four weeks. This could mark another chance for the freshmen backs to dazzle in front of the home crowd.

–A playbook is out there to some extent on Penn State. Its offense has seen a lot of cover zero — many defenders near the line of scrimmage and none deep — so far. Can the passing attack make the big plays it couldn’t against Central Michigan if Northwestern does something similar?

–Will the Lions avoid lulls like it had last week? Northwestern is a Big Ten team, but it’s not a very good one. There is no reason Penn State should not dominate from start to finish.

—Keyvone Lee missed last week’s game for undisclosed reasons. Will he return?

–Which version of the Penn State placement kicking game will show up? The Lions desperately need to start building some confidence and consistency in that area.