It's the Penn State bye week: How will the Lions spend it?

Penn State football is into its first bye week of the 2025 season. Having two weeks without a game in one year used to be rare. But, that was the case a year ago, is again this year, and will continue to be thanks to conference expansion. This first one comes at an interesting time for the Lions. They are 3-0 and, unlike their next opponent, have extra time to prepare for a top-five showdown. Oregon comes to Beaver Stadium on Sept. 27. Both sides undoubtedly have many things they want to work on between now and then. But the Ducks have a rivalry matchup with Oregon State waiting for them next Saturday while the Lions are waiting on them in two weeks.

How will PSU spend its time over the next six days?

The work actually started on Sunday night. While Penn State always practices the day after a game, it is usually earlier in the day. But, the desire to work in its home venue under the lights — some of which are new, per the head coach — pushed the on-field work into the evening. What is the plan from there?

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“This bye week is obviously going to be really important,” James Franklin said Saturday night. “This is not an off week by any means. [Sunday], we will practice tomorrow night, which is different for us to get into Beaver Stadium, because we have new lights. We have not been in the stadium with all of the new lighting up. So, we will do that tomorrow night.”

The team will then keep its regular Monday off day in place. Then, it’ll hold an abbreviated week of work.

“We’ll practice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, which is our typical bye week schedule,” Franklin continued. “The guys will have the weekend [off], including all Friday and Saturday. The coaches will be out recruiting, and then we’ll get into a traditional game week the following Sunday.

“Obviously, we’ll have the advantage of not having to break down the previous game and not make corrections in practice, so we’ll be a little bit ahead. But we need to get better. We need to get better on Tuesday; we need to get better on Wednesday. And then we need to be able to come in the next week in a really good place with a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous challenge in front of us.”

The Ducks will be a challenge, indeed, and the biggest one this Penn State team will face yet. What happens this week will set the tone for the rest of the preparation leading into the primetime White Out game showdown.