Penn State announces homecoming date, opponent for 2025 season

Penn State football officially turned the page to next season as February came to a close, kicking off winter workouts this week. Now, we have the first game theme of the 2025 season officially on the books.

On Friday, the Penn State Homecoming Committee announced that this year’s Homecoming game will be against Northwestern on October 11. The matchup will conclude a week of festivities beginning on October 5.

Since joining the Big Ten in 1993, Penn State football is 16-5 against Northwestern. The Nittany Lions are 3-2 against the Wildcats since James Franklin took over the program and are currently on a three-game winning streak. Most recently, Penn State won 41-13 in Evanston in 2023.

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar. © David Banks-Imagn Images

Following Friday’s announcement, we now await themes for the Nittany Lions’ remaining six home games in 2025. Typically, those decisions are released in late spring or early summer.

Once again, Penn State will have to decide how it wants to handle its famous White Out. Of course, the most logical matchup for the annual spectacle would be Oregon on September 27. However, as a potential top-five matchup, odds are the contest gets picked up for FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff.

Last year, Penn State football held its official White Out game in primetime against Washington. It also promoted impromptu White Outs contests against Illinois (7:30 p.m. kickoff) and in the first round of the College Football Playoff against SMU (noon).

Penn State football 2025 home games

• August 30: Nevada
• September 6: FIU
• September 13: Villanova
• September 27: Oregon
• October 11: Northwestern – Homecoming
• November 8: Indiana
• November 22: Nebraska

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