Ohio State has again avoided a night game at Penn State. The Buckeyes ’ upcoming road trip to Happy Valley will feature a noon kickoff on Nov. 2. FOX will televise the game, a potentially rare top-five showdown, according to an announcement Monday. The network, which has put its best matchups in the midday time slot for several years, featuring them as part of its “Big Noon Saturday” broadcast, did the same when the Buckeyes last visited the Nittany Lions in 2022. It’s been four years since Ohio State played a night game at Beaver Stadium and six years since it had a late kickoff in front of any spectators in State College. Between 2012 and 2018, the Buckeyes were involved in four games at Penn State that began at 5:30 p.m. or later. All of them were “White Out” games in which the Nittany Lions’ fans dress in white attire and are known to create a more hostile atmosphere. The Buckeyes, who have won seven in a row in the series, last suffered a loss to the Nittany Lions during a “White Out” in 2016 . A majority of the fans are still expected to be in white as Penn State is asking most sections in Beaver Stadium to don the color with select sections in blue, part of a helmet stripe theme. The stadium is intended to resemble the look of the team’s helmet. If both teams prevail this weekend, it should set up only their second-ever top-five matchup. The previous one was in 1996 when Ohio State was No. 3 and Penn State was No. 4 in the Associated Press poll at the time of their meeting in October, resulting in a 38-7 win for the Buckeyes. In the major polls released following Week 8 , the Nittany Lions were No. 3 and the Buckeyes No. 4. While the Buckeyes host Nebraska on Saturday, Penn State heads to Wisconsin for a prime-time clash.
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