As we begin to move closer to the start of a new college football season in Happy Valley, the staff at Nittnay Lions Wire is spending some time sounding off on some big questions facing the Nittany Lions this fall. Today’s focus is the biggest game in the first month of the season.
This question boils down to two distinct options, with both being a road game. Penn State opens the season on Thursday, Sept. 1 at Purdue and will play at Auburn in a return trip of a home-and-home deal in Week 3. Penn State also plays home games against Central Michigan and Ohio in September.
Here is what our staff had to say about the biggest game in September, but feel free to share with us your thoughts on Twitter or Facebook.
Sam Dehring, Contributor
@sam_dehring68
September should be a fairly easy set of games for Penn State. If I had to pick a game that would be most important game for the first month, I would have to say Auburn.
It’s fairly close between Auburn and their season opener against Purdue. Though I’m not very high at all on Auburn this year, I think the fact that they’re playing that game on the road will make it tough.
Last year, Penn State took down Auburn 28-20 in the white-out game. Clifford went 28/32 with 280 yards, a touchdown, and an interception all while putting up an 89.9 quarterback rating. However, that game was much from their defensive success.
Overall, for the Nittany Lions to beat Auburn again this season, they are going to need consistency on both sides of the ball.
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Kevin McGuire, Editor
@KevinOnCFB
As much as I am looking forward to seeing Penn State play at Aubrun, the bigger game has to be the season opener on the road against a conference opponent. And not just any Big Ten opponent, but one that plays tough at home and knocked off a couple of highly-ranked opponents last fall.
Purdue is not the ideal opponent to play on the road to start the season, so Penn State will absolutely be put to the test right out of the gates of the season. For the third straight season, Penn State is opening the season on the road against a conference opponent, and this one won’t be easy either.
The value of a conference win is much higher than a road win against Auburn. A win at Auburn may draw more attention, but starting the season off with a Big Ten win in a year that Penn State hopes to move back up the Big Ten standings cannot be oversold to me. If Penn State is only going to win one of these games, it has to be the Purdue game to start the season.
But winning both would be great too.
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