2023 Penn State football schedule extends impressive streak

The 2023 Penn State football schedule is less than 100 days away from kicking off. This year’s slate will extend an impressive streak for the Nittany Lions, one that few teams in college football can compare to. This fall, Penn State will kick off against the West Virginia Mountaineers. This marks the fourth straight season that the Nittany Lions will kick off against a Power Five opponent, something that seems unheard of in today’s landscape of college football.

2023 Penn State football schedule poised to extend impressive streak

Following Penn State’s 11-2 campaign in 2019, the Nittany Lions kicked off their COVID-19-affected season against fellow Big Ten opponent Indiana. While most fans would like to forget about that game, it still marked an important scheduling streak for Penn State football, one that most Power Five programs dare not match.

The season after, to kick off the team’s 2021 schedule, Penn State football made the trip to Madison, WI, to face the Wisconsin Badgers, who were ranked at the time. Penn State escaped with a narrow win, but a victory nonetheless.

Last fall, Penn State squared off against the Purdue Boilermakers in Week 1 on the road. It marked the third time in a row that the Nittany Lions opened the season on the road against a formidable Big Ten opponent.

While the 2023 Penn State football schedule is not slated to kick off against a Big Ten team or on the road, for that matter, the Nittany Lions are still scheduled to face a Power Five team to begin the year for the fourth consecutive season. The West Virginia Mountaineers, a Big 12 foe, will make the trip to Happy Valley for a Week 1 primetime matchup to kick off the new season.

Teams like Michigan, who have not played a Power Five non-conference regular-season game since 2017, among others, opt for weaker schedules. Still, it remains clear that Penn State football embraces the challenge, and shows no signs of shying away from early-season tests.

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