It's Penn State-Purdue week: Game time, spread, channel, streaming info, storylines, more

It’s Purdue week, Penn State fans. The No. 6 Nittany Lions took out Washington 35-6 last week and now move onto the Boilermakers, who were pounded by Ohio State on Saturday on the road.

“It is definitely a week to stack on, a week to improve on,” Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter said. “We played good tonight, but even when we go back in the film room tomorrow, it’s going to be little things where we can get better at. We could have been even more dominant.”

Added quarterback Drew Allar:

“We’ve shown it all year in different ways. Honestly, we were looking forward to the opportunity to come out, play in the White Out and play football. At the end of the day, we enjoyed it. Like you said, it is adversity that we faced coming off last week. But again, it’s just another form of adversity. It’s about how we respond to that adversity is what defines us as a team.”

Get ready for Lions-Boilermakers with our early game preview.

Time and TV info

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m ET at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Layfayette. CBS will televise the contest. Its top crew of Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, and Jenny Dell will be on the call.

What is the Penn State-Purdue spread?

FanDuel and DraftKings both call the Nittany Lions a 28.5-point favorite. The number could grow throughout the week. The total is 49.5.

Game week schedule for the Lions

Penn State is on its regular game week schedule. Head coach James Franklin will meet with reporters Monday at Beaver Stadium and Wednesday post-practice inside of Holuba Hall. He will also be on the second half hour of the Penn State Coaches Show, which airs from 6-7 p.m. ET on Thursday night. An assistant coach will speak with reporters earlier that day. A media practice viewing window is set for Wednesday night. Players will hold ZOOM call with reporters Tuesday and Wednesday.

What’s up with Purdue?

The Boilermakers are the worst team in the Big Ten and one of the worst teams in college football. It is 1-8, losers of eight straight, and has been shut out in two of the last three games it played. There is not much good to write or say about head coach Ryan Walters team at this point in time. It is massively struggling on offense and defense.

“I thought we were able to move the ball, but again, when you play against the number two team in the country, you don’t come up with points when you get into the red zone,” Walters said. “You know, when you’re 2-for-12 on third downs, you’re not going to give yourself a chance at the end of the game.

“I am learning how to respond to the moments that you don’t expect, and moments that are this difficult. I came here to win games. Came here to compete at the high stage, and we will dive into finding out how to do that.”

Weather report

Rain is in the early forecast. Here’s the latest from Weather.com: “A shower or two possible early with partly cloudy skies in the afternoon. High 63F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%”

Early Penn State-Purdue storylines

–Is Nicholas Singleton OK? Early indications are that there are no long-term injury concerns for the star junior running back. But, an update on his status will be the first thing James Franklin is asked about later today.

–Penn State can again alter its plan to play true freshmen if it wants to now that only three regular season games remain. It will be very interesting to see which first-year Nittany Lions make the travel roster as this has the makings of a game where everyone on it should see at least a few snaps.

–Will Dani Dennis-Sutton’s snaps continue trending upward or will Penn State rest him? After playing five reps against Ohio State his snap count jumped to 10 this week.

–Can Penn State build a big lead, and quickly, give its starters as much rest and recovery time as possible, considering how bad the Boilermakers are? That should be the goal.