Penn State football announces kickoff details for next home game

Penn State football was pushed to the brink of an early season upset last Saturday at the hands of Bowling Green. After the first of two bye weeks this upcoming Saturday, the Nittany Lions will look to avoid a similar scenario when another MAC program, Kent State, comes to Happy Valley on September 21. 

We now have a better picture of what next weekend’s matchup will look like. Monday afternoon, Penn State football announced that it had received a 3:30 p.m. kick time designation for its Week 4 contest. The game will air on the Big Ten Network. 

In July, the program announced the matchup against the Golden Flashes as its annual Military Appreciation game. 

Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State football is 5-0 against Kent State since 2003, with the Golden Flashes scoring 33 total points across those five matchups. The largest margin of victory was the most recent contest, when James Franklin and the Nittany Lions won 63-10 on September 15, 2018.

The Golden Flashes will bring with them a coach who helped orchestrate that 2018 rout inside Beaver Stadium. Former Penn State offensive line coach Matt Limegrover joined Kenni Burns’ staff in 2023 as co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Limegrover arrived in Kent by way of Arkansas State after coaching under James Franklin from 2016 to 2019.

While Penn State struggled to slow down Bowling Green’s offense early and was forced to rally for a 34-27 win, odds are the Nittany Lions will not have the same difficulties with Kent State next week. After a 1-11 season in 2023, this year’s iteration of the Golden Flashes are 0-2. 

Kent State faces No. 7 Tennesse, who jumped Penn State football in this week’s AP Poll, Saturday in Knoxville.

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