Why Penn State-Purdue on a Thursday makes sense, plus a throwback and thought on the Lions

Here’s some good news to jumpstart your Thursday, Penn State fans: The countdown to the Lions’ season opener has ticked under the 200-day mark.

There is much on the horizon prior to that, of course. Spring drills are about a month away. Summer recruiting camps and workouts will follow. Then, before we know it, fall practices will usher us into the 2022 slate.

The Thursday three — a throwback, thought, and take on Penn State football — covers a transfer portal nugget to know, the first game of the season, and a look back at a former Lion.

Throwback: Remembering Al Golden’s time at Penn State

Al Golden is back in the news this week. He has officially been announced as Notre Dame’s new defensive coordinator.

The New Jersey native is coming off a stint as a linebackers coach with the Super Bowl runner-up Cincinnati Bengals. He’s spent a handful of seasons in the NFL after back-to-back head coaching stops at Temple and Miami.

Nittany Lions fans, of course, remember Golden as a two-year starter and captain of the 1991 team that went 11-2 and crushed Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl.

Golden spent just a season coaching at Penn State, in 2000. Despite playing offense in college, his time on the sidelines has almost exclusively been on defense. He did coach the Detroit Lions’ tight ends for two seasons and started as an offensive coordinator at Red Bank Catholic high school in 1993.

Thought: Will transferring lineman visit the Lions?

Penn State continues its hunt for transfer portal additions.

The Lions already added receiver Mitchell Tinsley and offensive lineman Hunter Nourzad. They may also be interested in Western Kentucky portal entry and tackle Cole Spencer.

However, there are definitely ongoing conversations with Tyler Steen.

A former Vanderbilt tackle who could still return to the Commodores, Steen was a multi-year in the SEC. According to Billy Embody of On3 LSU site ‘The Bengal Tiger’, the Miami, Fla., native will see head coach Brian Kelly’s Tigers in March. Embody reports that “[p]lenty of the nation’s top programs have offered Steen and programs like Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Penn State and others are among the potential visits.”

Any program that lands Steen will need to host him. So, that’s the next step for Penn State. His younger brother, Blake, signed with Virginia in the Class of 2022. It has made some wonder if the Cavaliers could be in play, as well.

Time will tell. But, Tyler Steen continues to be a name to watch moving forward.

Take: Penn State-Purdue on a Thursday makes sense, even if fans don’t like it

It’s safe to say that Penn State fans’ reaction to the Lions’ opener at Purdue being moved from Sat., Sept. 3 to Thur., Sept. 1 has been lukewarm.

However, it makes sense, even if ‘Nittany Nation’ isn’t enamored by it.

One look at last season’s most-watched college football games helps explain why that is the case. According to a compilation from Sports Media Watch, the Lions were in a top-five most-watched contest of the week eight times in 2021 (at Wisconsin, vs. Auburn, vs. Indiana, at Iowa, vs. Illinois, at Ohio State, vs. Michigan, and vs. Michigan State).

That number is not matched by many programs across the country, and certainly not in the Big Ten. Thus, why wouldn’t the conference and its television partners want to showcase the Lions to start the year and draw in what will likely be another huge audience to kick things off?

Penn State fans have a valid gripe about yet another conference opener coming on the road. But, that and this are two separate things. It’s why the date change makes sense from an overall perspective.

Plus, look at it this way: If you can take Friday off, an extended Labor Day weekend is in your future.