Brett Carlsen/Getty Images. Pictured: Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania, home of the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Penn State and Auburn meet Saturday in the crown jewel of Week 3’s college football slate — a White Out from Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa.
The Nittany Lions are a 5-point favorite as of Friday afternoon. They opened around -7, depending on the sportsbook, before bettors hammered the Tigers earlier in the week.
Penn State-Auburn is ABC’s primetime broadcast, with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit on the call. College GameDay will air from State College on Saturday morning, as well.
Here’s everything you need to know about this rare, on-campus Big Ten-SEC clash.
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Penn State vs. Auburn Start Time
- Date: Saturday, Sept. 18
- Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Penn State and Auburn will kick off just after 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night. The sun will set in State College around 7:15, so it will be a true night game under the lights in Beaver Stadium.
How to Watch Penn State vs. Auburn
- TV: ABC
- Stream: ESPN+ (cable subscription required)
For those looking to stream Penn State-Auburn, note that having a standalone ESPN+ subscription does not allow you to stream this game live (or any other game broadcast on ESPN’s family of networks). You need a cable subscription, or someone else’s cable login credentials, to stream this game on ESPN+.
You can sign up for a free trial of a streaming service like Fubo TV, Hulu Live or YouTube TV, which all have ABC, then cancel.
Penn State’s last White Out was in 2019, since there were no fans in the stands. The results have actually been mixed at 8-8 overall, but they’re often playing their toughest home game of the year in hopes that the crowd and environment will make a big difference.
Because of that, the against the spread results have actually been better. Penn State is 6-1 against the spread in White Out games in the last seven years, including two narrow losses to Ohio State in which they covered.
Their one win over Ohio State in the last nine years was in front of a White Out crowd, when the Buckeyes dominated total yardage but Grant Haley returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown to win 24-21.
Penn State was a 17-point underdog in that win over Ohio State but ended the season rated as one of the best teams in the country after winning the Big Ten title and playing USC tight in the Rose Bowl.
The Nittany Lions beat ranked Michigan teams in two of the next three White Out games, and lost to Ohio State in a heartbreaker in 2018.
| Year | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | No. 9 Purdue | L 13–21 |
| 2005 | No. 6 Ohio State | W 17–10 |
| 2006 | No. 4 Michigan | L 10–17 |
| 2007 | Notre Dame | W 31–10 |
| 2008 | No. 22 Illinois | W 38–24 |
| 2009 | Iowa | L 10–21 |
| 2010 | Michigan | W 41–31 |
| 2011 | No. 3 Alabama | L 11–27 |
| 2012 | No. 9 Ohio State | L 23–35 |
| 2013 | No. 18 Michigan | W 43–40 (4OT) |
| 2014 | No. 13 Ohio State | L 24–31 (2OT) |
| 2015 | No. 14 Michigan | L 16–28 |
| 2016 | No. 2 Ohio State | W 24–21 |
| 2017 | No. 19 Michigan | W 42–13 |
| 2018 | No. 4 Ohio State | L 26–27 |
| 2019 | No. 16 Michigan | W 28–21 |
| 2020 | N/A | N/A |
| 2021 | No. 22 Auburn |
Updated Penn State-Auburn Odds
- Penn State -5
- Auburn +5
- Total: 52.5
Penn State opened as a touchdown favorite in this game, but bettors have been loving Auburn all week. That action has driven the line down to -5 as of Friday afternoon.
Penn State News
Before the year, Penn State felt like one of the easier teams in the country to peg — a defense that reloads anchored by a great secondary, interesting talent at the offensive skill positions, but average quarterback play. And all that would give the Nittany Lions a relatively high floor, but not a Big Ten title ceiling.
Through two games, I don’t think anything has changed on that front. Penn State did beat Wisconsin, but struggled to move the ball at times, and benefitted tremendously from the Badgers’ inability to turn red zone trips into points. Sean Clifford averaged a perfectly fine 7.5 yards per attempt, but completed only 54.5% of his passes, and couldn’t get anything going with his legs.
Penn State outclassed Ball State last week, but that effort wasn’t perfect, either. This week against Auburn will tell us a lot more.
Auburn News
This was expected to be a bit of a down season for Auburn as they transition to a new coach, but the first two weeks have folks in the Plains pretty excited. The excitement will really start to build if the Tigers can beat Penn State on Saturday.
Auburn opened the season against Akron, the fourth-worst team in the country in our betting power ratings, and Alabama State, a bottom-tier FCS team. But the Tigers have looked impressive in both, hanging a combined 122 points while allowing just 10.
Quarterback Bo Nix has often struggled away from home and in hostile environments, and his career numbers are pedestrian entering his third season as the starter — 6.9 yards per attempt, 59.5% completion percentage.
