Penn State football 2023 schedule: Who will the Lions face next fall?
The Big Ten has announced its 2023 football schedule. Penn State now knows who it will face during conference play.
Head coach James Franklin’s team will again start conference play on the road. When he arrived, first-year athletic director Pat Kraft said that he had talked to the Big Ten about making sure that trend didn’t continue. However, it will for at least one more season.
“It is incredibly frustrating and disappointing Penn State will be starting our Big Ten football slate next year on the road for the eighth-straight season and for the 13th time in the last 14 years,” Kraft said in a released statement Wednesday.
“When I arrived on campus, I shared with the conference staff my concerns and repeatedly referenced their failure to address this issue in the past. I have been in communication with Commissioner Warren and I am confident this issue will be addressed moving forward.”
The first Penn State Big Ten home game comes Sept. 23 when Iowa visits Beaver Stadium. The Lions’ home conference games includes matchups with Indiana (Oct. 28), Michigan (Nov. 11), and Rutgers (Nov. 18). Besides traveling to Illinois, the Lions also head to Northwestern (Sept. 30), Ohio State (Oct. 23), Maryland (Nov. 4), and Michigan State (Nov. 25).
There were two other notable changes: The bye week is now one week later than it previously was. And, the UMASS non-conference game has been moved from Nov. 11 to Oct. 14.
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Penn State also faces West Virginia and Delaware in back-to-back weeks in non-conference play to open its schedule.
How did the Penn State schedule change?
This is an altered schedule compared to the one announced previously by the Big Ten. Here’s the new breakdown in comparison form.
Date/2023 opponent/who Penn State was supposed to face that day:
Sept. 2 – vs. West Virginia/vs. West Virginia
Sept. 9 – vs. Delaware/vs. Delaware
Sept. 16 – at Illinois/at Illinois
Sept. 23 – vs. Iowa/at Northwestern
Sept. 30 – at Northwestern/BYE WEEK
Oct. 7 – BYE WEEK/vs. Indiana
Oct. 14 – vs. UMASS/at Michigan State
Oct. 21 – at Ohio State/at Ohio State
Oct. 28 – vs. Indiana/Iowa
Nov. 4 – at Maryland/vs. Michigan
Nov. 11 – vs. Michigan/vs. UMass
Nov. 18 – vs. Rutgers/vs. Rutgers
Nov. 25 – at Michigan State/at Maryland
Full 2023 Lions schedule
Here is the cleaned-up version:
Sept. 2 – vs. West Virginia
Sept. 9 – vs. Delaware
Sept. 16 – at Illinois
Sept. 23 – vs. Iowa
Sept. 30 – at Northwestern
Oct. 7 – BYE WEEK
Oct. 14 – vs. UMASS
Oct. 21 – at Ohio State
Oct. 28 – vs. Indiana
Nov. 4 – at Maryland
Nov. 11 – vs. Michigan
Nov. 18 – vs. Rutgers
Nov. 25 – at Michigan State
