Penn State Opens Big 10 Play with Rare Friday Night Game at Illinois

| September 20, 2018


CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 10/9 Penn State opens its nine-game Big Ten slate at Illinois, taking the field at Memorial Stadium for the first time since 2014 on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on FS1.

(Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)

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Penn State is playing its first regular-season game on a Friday since a 1982 day-after-Thanksgiving tilt against Pittsburgh. The No. 2 Nittany Lions defeated the No. 5 Panthers, 19-10, to conclude the regular season, and then went on to defeat No. 1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl to win the National Championship.

The game opens Penn State’s 26th Big Ten season.

The Nittany Lions have been dominant since its season-opening overtime battle with Appalachian State, outscoring their last two opponents 114-16 overall and 72-0 in the second half.

Penn State has found success in all three phases of the game, ranking in the top 40 in both offense and defense, while boasting the fourth-best kickoff return average and 16th-best punt return average.

Quarterback Trace McSorley has led the scoring attack, taking responsibility for 66 points to rank second in the Big Ten and seventh in FBS. On the other side of the ball, the Penn State defense has put significant pressure on opposing quarterbacks, ranking fourth in FBS with 4.33 sacks per game.

Illinois is 2-1 to open 2018, defeating Kent State and Western Illinois in the first two weeks of the season, respectively, before succumbing to a fourth-quarter rally by South Florida in a neutral site contest on Chicago’s Soldier Field last week. The Fighting Illini have excelled in the turnover battle this season, as they are tied for the lead in the Big Ten (Ohio State) with a plus-five turnover margin and have at least one takeaway in their last 17 games.

PENN STATE/OHIO STATE SET FOR PRIMETIME

The Penn State Whiteout contest between No. 10/9 Penn State and No. 4/4 Ohio State will be featured as the “Saturday Night Football” game on ABC at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29. The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes meet in primetime for the fourth time in five years.

The teams have met every year since Penn State began Big Ten competition in 1993. The last two contests have been decided by a total of four points. The last time the teams met in the Penn State White Out in 2016, the Nittany Lions claimed a thrilling 24-21 over the second-ranked Buckeyes when Marcus Allen blocked a field goal attempt and Grant Haley scooped it up and returned it 60 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

Penn State has played at least one regular season night game for 19th consecutive seasons. Every Penn State football game has been televised the past 14 seasons and 296 of the last 298 contests overall have been on TV.


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