Kickoff: Noon. Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA
The Line, If You Can Get It: PSU -37 (VegasInsider.com)
TV: BTN. Matt Devlin (that's MATT Devlin, play-by-play), Glen Mason (ugh, analyst) and Dionne Miller (sidelines)
Weather: 81 degrees and sunny at kickoff; chance of afternoon thunderstorm
The countless hours of offseason preparations are over. Penn State will open its 12-game slate with its first meeting against Indiana State. The Lions will be seeking their 65th non-conference victory (64-14) since joining the Big Ten in 1993.
The long wait is over. Gameday in Beaver Stadium is here.
In that, there's no shame involved whatsoever. It's hard to find early season FBS opponents due to the price tag. When Sun Belt and MAC teams started realizing how much money they could squeeze out of these September games in giant stadiums, FCS schools in dire need of funding undersold them. Indiana State, a team that won precisely two games in a five year stretch from 2005-2009 before going 6-5 last year, will make $450,000 from this game. They need it. They've had to cut programs such as men's and women's tennis in recent years, and just signed football head coach Trent Miles to a five-year extension after the Sycamores' first winning season in over 20 years. Money is tight everywhere. They need the cash. We need the cheap opponent. These are the sad realities.
