Penn State returns from its bye week on Halloween for an unusual kickoff time at Beaver Stadium against Purdue. The Big Ten on Monday announced game times and broadcast designations for its Oct. 31 slate of games. The Nittany Lions will host the Boilermakers at 4:15 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.
Penn State enters the bye week with a collection of issues to fix after its 21-18 loss to Michigan on Saturday. The Nittany Lions gave up 21 second-points on three Rocco Becht turnovers, falling to 0-4 in the Big Ten under first-year coach Matt Campbell.
"I think you’re in a game where it’s kind of like the last couple, right?" Campbell said. "You’re right there to win the game. You’ve got to win in the margins right now, for sure, and we’re not doing that. I think the two areas that we said we had to win the football game [were] taking care of the football and winning the running game. Both things in the second half kind of imploded on us."
Penn State is one of three teams without Big Ten wins, joining Maryland and Michigan State at 0-4. The Nittany Lions are off this week, which they hope to use to get healthy, address some root-cause concerns about the run game and evaluate personnel on the pass rush.
Campbell has said that receiver Koby Howard, who has missed all four Big Ten games, is working hard toward a return. If he's back against Purdue, Penn State's offense would have a solid combination of Howard and Chase Sowell, who delivered a career game against Michigan.
"I don’t think you can flinch right now. You’re building the foundation of a football program, and to be quite honest with you, the foundation of a program that needs to continue to showcase that it has the ability when it gets hard and when it gets tough.
"We’re not there, right? I mean, we’ve proven that. Man, the second half of games, now it was the fourth quarter of a football game. You’re right there. The opportunity to go win the game. We have to work through that, and we have to build that from the inside out. "
Asked how long it will take Penn State to get there, "Campbell said, "Yeah, that's a great question."
" thought we were a lot closer tonight," Campbell said. "And I think that’s really frustrating from our end of is that we weren’t able to put together the second half that we wanted to put together. From our end of it, we are doing everything in our power to get there as fast as we possibly can."
Purdue (3-4, 2-2 Big Ten) also has a bye this week. The Boilermakers lost 38-26 at Washington, where quarterback Ryan Browne went 21 for 41 for 273 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
The loss ended Purdue's two-game win streak, which began with a 24-17 win at Illinois. The victory ended Purdue's 19-game Big Ten losing streak that dated to 2023.
Penn State brings an 11-game win streak over Purdue into the game. The Nittany Lions lead their all-time series vs. Purdue 17-3, and the Boilermakers have one just once at Beaver Stadium (in 2004) since Penn State joined the Big Ten.
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