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The Penn State football team will host Big Ten rival Ohio State in a matchup of Top 5 foes on Saturday afternoon. Head coach James Franklin seemed less than thrilled with the early kickoff time.
He sarcastically shaded FOX in a recent media appearance. He wanted to see a night game in Happy Valley!
The network’s Big Noon Kickoff does its best to highlight the week’s top battle throughout the college football season. In doing so, it sends its pregame show to a selected campus as it takes in the sights and sounds of the leadup to each heavyweight contest.
The coverage then flows directly into that spotlight game.
It was easy to identify its upcoming locale with the third-ranked Nittany Lions hosting the No. 4 Buckeyes in State College this weekend.
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The drawback to the setup is that kickoff for said matchup is slated for noon, as referenced in the Big Noon title.
Early starts have their pros, which include national visibility as viewers at home begin their Saturdays. The cons, however, may outweigh the benefits, especially for host team and those attending the game in person.
Fans must get to the venue early with little time to pregame. The atmosphere can be severely hampered as those attendees sleepily stroll into the stadium.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin touched on that outlook after being snubbed of hosting an SEC night game in Oxford. A late kick can aid in creating a massive homefield advantage!
“I think that’s proven over time in NFL and college [that playing at night is beneficial]. Playing at night in an electric atmosphere is a homefield advantage… LSU gets to play at night again, I guess? Shocker… I feel bad for our fans not having one night conference game.”
-Lane Kiffin
James Franklin echoed those sentiments this week.
“There’s nothing better than a noon game in Happy Valley against Ohio State,” he sarcastically said. “I’ve seen it all over social media. Our fans could not be more excited… Nothing better than a noon game in Happy Valley.”
James Franklin’s thoughts on Penn State’s noon kick against Ohio State: pic.twitter.com/q9IdTx5RHU
— Joel Haas (@Joel_Haas1) October 30, 2024
The fan response, of course, differed greatly from Franklin’s snide remarks.
“Two Top 4 teams in the playoff race… Yeah, let’s put it at noon.”
“Big games belong under the lights.”
“Boycott Big Noon Kickoff!”
The Nittany Lions ran into similar issues with a noon kickoff vs. Michigan last year. Those frustrations weren’t heard by FOX!
Penn State and Ohio State have College Football Playoff aspirations.
The Buckeyes boast one loss, a one-point defeat at the hands of top-ranked Oregon. Penn State, meanwhile, remains undefeated as it pursues a Big Ten championship.
Each could find themselves in the CFP come season’s end.
It will be a matchup of two programs that have struggled in this particular scenario under their current leadership.
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Ohio State is 2-7 against Top 5 foes during Ryan Day’s tenure while James Franklin is even worse at 1-13.
The duo met last year with the Nittany Lions ranked No. 7 and the Buckeyes sitting at No. 3 in the polls. Ohio State would win the contest, 20-12.
Each will look to shake the recent issues with Top 5 opponents to come out victorious. One side has no choice but to end the drought!
Penn State fans will undoubtedly show up to provide support of the home team. They’ll just have to get to their seats a bit earlier than intended!