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

Welcome to Washington week, Penn State fans. The first meeting between the schools as Big Ten foes is set for this Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions are looking to bounce back after falling 20-13 to Ohio State. The Huskies, meanwhile, are flying high after coming back to beat USC 26-21 in Seattle.

“It’s kind of just like we’re treating everything like a one week season now,” Washington quarterback Will Rogers said. “So it’s good to get a win. I thought we had a great week of practice. That was just the biggest thing. We had a great week of practice, man. Probably our best week yet. And then able to come back home and get a huge win and, you know, flush it in 12, 24 hours, whatever it is, and, you know, get ready for Penn State.”

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

Time and TV info

Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET. Peacock will stream the game exclusively, meaning there is no over-the-air television broadcast. Fans can learn more about signing up for the subscription service by clicking here. As of early Monday morning, a broadcast crew has not yet been announced.

What is the Penn State-Washington spread?

FanDuel and DraftKings both call the Nittany Lions a 13.5-point favorite. The number could tick over two touchdowns by kickoff. But, in our view, it might go down before it goes up. The total is set at 45.5 points.

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 Washington?

The Huskies were losers of two consecutive games by double digits before storming back to beat USC late Saturady night. Washington is led by transfer quarterback Will Rogers. He is completing 71.1 percent of his passes for 2,284 yards. He also owns a 13-to-4 touchdown to interception ratio. Nine of his TD tosses have gone to Denzel Boston, who also leads the team with 682 receiving yards. Giles Jackson (55-597-2) is the second-leading receiver.

Washington’s Achilles heel this year has been its rush defense and its scoring offense. The Huskies rank No. 70 nationally in the former department because they give up an average of 150 yards per game on the ground. It’s a stark contrast to their No. 2 pass defense (142 yards per game). Fisch’s team struggles in the pass rush department but is still No. 10 overall in total defense. On offense, it is No. 39 nationally but No. 100 in scoring offense at just 23.6 points per game.

Weather report

A seasonably cool night with some showers is the current forecast. Per Weather.com: “Partly cloudy skies early followed by increasing clouds with showers developing later at night. Low 44F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.”

Early Penn State-Washington storylines

–Can Penn State bounce back and not let one loss become two? It’s been three years since the Lions lost back-to-back games and they will be heavily favored in front of one of the best home game environments in all of college football. In other words, there’s no reason they shouldn’t.

–Will Washington make the Penn State pass game mostly obsolete like Ohio State did? And, if so, can the Lions do enough on the ground to score more than they did against the Buckeyes?

–How will the Huskies handle this east coast trip? We’ve seen a variety of plans across the Big Ten this year. What will Fisch’s be?

–After Saturday’s dud, what can Andy Kotelnicki and the Penn State players do to reinspire confidence in the offense?

–Will Anthony Donkoh and/or Dani Dennis-Sutton be healthier this week than they were last week?