Penn State-WVU set for noon kickoff on FOX
PennLive.com via Trib Total Media
Penn State will begin its 2024 college football season on one of the sport’s biggest stages.
Penn State’s season opener at West Virginia on Aug. 31 will kick off at noon on FOX as part of “Big Noon Kickoff.”
Penn State’s matchup at West Virginia will wrap up a scheduled home-and-home. Drew Allar and the Nittany Lions defeated the Mountaineers, 38-15, at Beaver Stadium last September.
James Franklin’s Nittany Lions return home after the West Virginia season opener to host Bowling Green (Sept. 7) at noon, Kent State (Sept. 21), Illinois (Sept. 28) and UCLA (Oct. 5). The homecoming game against Illinois will kick off at 3:30, 4 or 7:30 p.m. on a to be determined network.
The Penn State-West Virginia game being featured at noon on FOX should not come as a surprise. There was speculation that the game might be moved up to a Thursday or Friday night primetime game, but “Big Noon Kickoff” came into focus as the obvious option.
ESPN now holds the rights to all games that originate from SEC and ACC campuses, while FOX is the primary rights holder for the Big Ten and Big 12. When it was announced that Michigan’s opener against Fresno State would be a primetime pick on the same day, it was assumed by many that Penn State and West Virginia would end up on FOX.
The Nittany Lions kicked off the Allar era in style last year, dominating West Virginia under the Beaver Stadium lights. Penn State went on to win its first six games in 2023 before losing to Ohio State, Michigan and Ole Miss (Peach Bowl) and finishing with a 10-3 record.
West Virginia bounced back from a loss in the season opener to win its next four games, including a Backyard Brawl victory over Pitt. The Mountaineers, led by coach Neal Brown, finished with a 9-4 record and a Duke’s Mayo Bowl win over North Carolina.
This is undoubtedly the biggest home game on West Virginia’s schedule. The “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show will begin at 10 a.m. and broadcast from the Almost Heaven Village.
The Mountaineers also host Albany (Sept. 7) at 6 p.m., Kansas, Iowa State, Kansas State, Baylor and Central Florida. Milan-Puskar Stadium has a capacity of 60,000 and is expected to be sold out. The Mountaineers will play the Backyard Brawl at Pitt on Sept. 14, at 3:30 p.m.
