It's Penn State-Oregon week: Game time, spread, channel, streaming info, storylines, more

Penn State opens Big Ten play six days from now when it takes on Oregon on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. A sellout will happen for this year’s White Out game. The last meeting between the two sides came in last year’s Big Ten title game, which head coach Dan Lanning’s side claimed 45-37 over James Franklin’s team. PSU holds a 3-2 all-time lead in the series, but prior to 2024, the teams had not met since 1995.

Franklin’s team comes off a bye week. It sits at 3-0. Lanning’s Ducks beat up Oregon State back on Saturday in their annual rivalry game. Now, both sides are setting their sights on each other ahead of kickoff.

“Thought we started off a little bit slow, and then obviously really came together in the second, third, fourth quarter, there to finish it out and have a dominant performance,” Lanning said Saturday night in Eugene, according to OregonLive. “We talked about winning the trenches before this game started, and to be able to rush for almost 300 yards and hold them to under 100 rushing after we started so poorly was a big win for us. And overall, operated well.”

Our early preview gets you ready to start game week below.

Time and TV info

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. NBC will televise the game. The announcing crew will feature Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Penn State alum Todd Blackledge (color commentary), and Kathryn Tappen (sideline reporter).

What is the Penn State-Oregon point spread?

Penn State was favored by 4.5 points on the lookahead line that was posted back in the summer. Now, the new BetMGM line sees the Nittany Lions at -3.5. The over/under betting total is 52.5.

Game week schedule for the Lions

Penn State head coach James Franklin will kick off game week with a news conference at Noon ET. He will speak from the media room at Beaver Stadium, and you’ll be able to watch it on the Blue-White Illustrated YouTube channel by 12:45 if you click here.

Tuesday should bring with it some player interviews with reporters via ZOOM. Wednesday will feature some, as well, before a practice viewing availability for the media, followed by Franklin and some players speaking in the evening. Thursday features an assistant coach media call and Franklin’s weekly radio show. Then, the talking is done until after the game.

As for Oregon, Lanning speaks at approximately 9:45 p.m. ET Monday night and again on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. Players are available during the week, as well, though like with Penn State, exact dates and times vary.

What’s up with the Ducks?

The Ducks have had a number of slow starts this season. But, once they get rolling, they become very difficult to stop. Oregon has the No. 3 scoring offense in the country with an average of 54 points per game. Sophomore quarterback Dante Moore is the leader of a balanced offense that leans a little bit run-heavy but not drastically so. Will Stein’s offense is No. 11 in average rushing yards per game with 247 but does not have one bellcow to date.

Moore spreads the ball around to a bunch of different receivers. On defense, linebacker Bryce Boettcher is the heart and soul of the unit. Safety Dillon Thieneman is one of the top defenders in the country. This is a very good team from top to bottom despite having many new faces in key places. They are 4-0 and have yet to really struggle to beat anyone, althought their win over Northwestern two weeks ago was a bit of a slog.

Weather report

Per Weather.com, there could be some rain next Saturday. It writes “Showers early becoming less numerous later in the day. High 77F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.”

Early Penn State-Oregon storylines

–Did Penn State fix everything it needed to during the bye week? The first few questions Franklin fields later today will be about the progress his team made during the time off.

–How will the Lions be better prepared to stop the Oregon attack this time around compared to 2024? Jim Knowles will play a big role in that, obviously.

“[Ohio State] didn’t do so well against them in our first game against Oregon, either,” Knowles said, referring to his first meeting with the Ducks when he was with the Buckeyes. “They’re a really good offense and they challenge you formationally with all the different things that they do. You just have to make sure that we have the guys in the right places. A lot of times against these teams that do so much and they’re talented, if you’re not in the right place, you don’t have a chance. So that’s my job is to just get them into the right place.”

–Can the Penn State offense keep pace with the Ducks? The Lions are the team returning a lot of key pieces and Oregon is the one that started the year replacing them. But so far, it has the gaudier stats, which isn’t an end-all, be-all, of course. But also: The Lions must approach the 30s to win this game, in our mind, and they’ve taken a long time to do that in their first three games.

–Third downs might be a difference maker. Oregon has the fifth-best conversion rate in the country on offense and is No. 17 nationally when it comes to getting stops. Penn State is Nos. 82 and 59, respectively.

–What’s your top storyline to start the week? Tell us inside The Lions Den forum!