What time, TV channel will Penn State-Ohio State be on in Week 8? Game info set for Nov. 1 clash

Penn State will face Ohio State three weeks after James Franklin was fired as the Lions’ head coach after 11.5 years of leading the program. His inability to beat the Buckeyes is not the only reason he was let go. But, it undoubtedly played a part in athletic director Pat Kraft’s decision.

At any rate, interim head coach Terry Smith will get his first shot to knock off head coach Ryan Day’s team on Sat., Nov. 1 at Ohio Stadium. Before the year started, the matchup looked like one of the top games of the season. Now, the Penn State (3-4) is looking to spoil OSU’s postseason possibilities with their own already dashed by three consecutive losses that ended Franklin’s tenure followed by a setback at Iowa. When will the game start, and which Big Ten media partner is airing it?

Kickoff is at Noon ET. FOX will televise the game. A point spread is not yet out at BetMGM. But, the home team will favored by at least two touchdowns over Penn State. 

Looking ahead to Penn State-Ohio State 

Ohio State has a bye this week before hosting the Lions next week. As noted above, Penn State has its second bye of the season before traveling to Columbus. The extra time to heal and game plan will be even more important than it looked like it would be on paper in August. That’s not because of the stakes, of course; those have long-since been diminished. 

Instead, Penn State will take as much time as it can for Jim Knowles to continue retooling his defense before returning to Columbus while Andy Kotelnicki continues to build his offense around redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer. He will start the second game of his career two Saturdays from now. In his first start at Iowa, the Ohio State completed 15 of 28 passes for 93 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions. 

“I thought Ethan played a pretty solid game,” Smith said about the starting Penn State passer. “Obviously, he had the two interceptions. The one interception down by the four yard line, that wasn’t a bad interception. That’s like a punt. I mean, that was like pinning them back. It turned out to be a positive. The second interception right before the half, you know, we tried to force a slant in there. He’s just trying to make a play. So, you know, the ball was tipped and intercepted. I thought his game was solid.

“I thought he managed the line of scrimmage and the calls at the line of scrimmage. He handled the crowd. The crowd was electric. We didn’t have any miscues with communication at the line of scrimmage. So he did a terrific job with that. I’m super excited. He used his legs on some critical third downs and second down runs to move the sticks. It’s really, really positive in the direction we’re going. We’ll be able to build this thing him.”

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