Lions to host Ohio State for Halloween
From Call staff reports
The Big Ten’s third football schedule of the 2020 season is highlighted by Michigan-Ohio State on Dec. 12, the final day of the conference’s regular-season and the latest date the rivals have ever played.
The Big Ten released an eightgames-in-eight-weeks schedule on Saturday that will start the weekend of Oct. 24. Just three days ago, the conference reversed course and decided to play a fall football season after postponing on Aug. 11 because of concerns about COVID-19.
Week 1 features Nebraska at Ohio State, two teams that were at the forefront of the grassroots push to play fall ball in the Big Ten. Michigan will play at Minnesota in the Little Brown Jug rivalry to open the season.
The regular season concludes as usual with the Buckeyes and Wolverines facing off. Michigan and Ohio
State have played 103 times, but never later than November.
The Big Ten championship game will be played Dec. 19 in Indianapolis, matching the East and West Division champions. The conference has said it will give all its teams the opportunity to play on Dec. 19. The tentative plan is to match teams with similar finishes in the respective division standings.
Penn State opens the season on the road at Indiana Oct. 24 before meeting Ohio State in Beaver Stadium on Halloween. Here’s the schedule as released. Game times will be announced at a later date.
Under current state guidance, public tickets will not be sold for 2020 Penn State football games. Fans are encouraged to cheer the Nittany Lions on from afar through virtual initiatives to be announced in the coming weeks. Tailgating is not permitted on game days in any University parking lots.
The Nittany Lions return 17 total starters from last season (10 on offense, 4 on defense, 3 on special teams) and 40 letterwinners (16 on offense, 21 on defense, 3 on special teams). Of the returnees, eight earned All-Big Ten recognition in 2019.
Capped by a 53-39 win over No. 17 Memphis in the Goodyear Cotton
Bowl Classic on Dec. 28, 2019, the Nittany Lions posted their third 11-win season in four years with an 11-2 record. It marked Penn State’s 18th 11-win season overall and eighth since joining the Big Ten. Penn State’s last stretch with 11 wins in three-offour years was 1968-71.
Penn State finished in the Top 10 of the Associated Press poll and the Amway Coaches polls for its third Top 10 finish in both polls in the last four seasons. The Nittany Lions came in at No. 9 in the final AP and Amway Coaches polls. Additionally, Penn State was No. 10 in the final College Football Playoff Rankings. The Nittany Lions have ended the season in the AP Top 25 in four-consecutive seasons for the first time since a seven-year stint from 199399. Penn State is one-of-four teams (Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma) to rank in the Top 12 of the CFP final rankings in each of the last four seasons (2016-19).