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When will Penn State-Northwestern start, and what channel will it be on?

Greg Pickelby:Greg Pickel•09/19/22•

GregPickel

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The Penn State football equipment truck. (Greg Pickel/BWI)

Penn State football opens the October portion of its 2022 schedule with a visit from Northwestern. Now, we know when the game will begin at Beaver Stadium in addition to what television channel it will be on.

Both schools and the Big Ten Conference announced that kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET. The East-West division crossover matchup will air on either ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2.

All time, Penn State holds a 14-5 advantage. The sides last met in 2017 out in Evanston. On that day, Trace McSorley threw a touchdown pass and also ran for a score while running back Saquon Barkley found the end zone twice. The Lions also intercepted Wildcats’ quarterback Clayton Thorson twice and forced him to lose a fumble en route to a 31-9 win at Ryan Field. Northwestern, however, won the last meeting in State College by a 29-6 count back in 2014. Three of their five victories in the series have come at Beaver Stadium.

Penn State is 3-0 after beating Auburn last week on the road. It was the most dominating and complete win the program has had in quite some time. The final score, 41-12, only tells some of the story about how well head coach James Franklin’s team played.

“Overall, there hasn’t been too many Big Ten teams in the history of the Big Ten to come on the road and get a win in the SEC,” Franklin said.

“So we’re very, very proud of that. I also think we’ve had a very challenging schedule to open the season. On the road in Big Ten play, then a home game, and then on the road again. [Auburn] has five home games to start the season. So I’m proud of our guys. We’ll enjoy this win for a couple hours and then get back to work tomorrow.”

More on Penn State-Northwestern

The Lions must battle Central Michigan this week before hosting Northwestern, of course. It marks two straight home games for Penn State before the bye week.

So far, the Wildcats are 1-2. They beat Nebraska but lost the last two weeks to Duke and Southern Illinois. Quarterback Ryan Hilinski has a five-to-three touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio to date. Back Evan Hull leads the team with 308 yards and three scores. He is also the leading receiver with 301 yards and one touchdown. The top statistical defender is linebacker Bryce Gallagher. He has 25 tackles.

Northwestern faces Miami of Ohio this week before taking on Penn State.

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