Penn State’s official bye weeks for the 2025 season come in Week 4 and Week 9, but with a national championship-caliber roster, James Franklin will have plenty more opportunities to rest his starters, at least for the second half.
With Oregon now in the Big Ten, the conference that has won back-to-back national titles between Michigan and Ohio State, it won’t be easy for the Nittany Lions to navigate their schedule in 2025, but a soft non-conference slate with a few Big Ten bottom-feeders sprinkled in could mean a lot of blowout wins for Penn State.
Here’s a look at the four cupcakes on Penn State’s 2025 schedule, which should give the team a good chance for some extra rest.
Week 1: vs. Nevada
Penn State’s season starts incredibly soft with three non-conference games. Two of the first three matchups are against Group of Five opponents, and in Week 3, the Nittany Lions get an FCS matchup.
After giving SMU a scare in Week 0 last season, Nevada won three games in Year 1 of the Jeff Choate era, a one-win improvement over 2022 and 2023 under Ken Wilson. This program is struggling mightily to be competitive in the Mountain West, so a trip out east to Happy Valley will be a nightmare for the Wolf Pack.
Week 2: vs. FIU
Following three consecutive 4-8 seasons under Mike MacIntyre, the FIU Panthers moved on to Willie Simmons for 2025, but don’t expect things to turn around right away. The Panthers have a lot of work to do to build a competitive roster in Conference USA, and the money that Penn State pays for this Week 2 win should help. Though not quite as much as selling the naming rights to your stadium to Pitbull.
Week 3: vs. Villanova
If Penn State has any kinks to work out throughout the start of the season, either adjusting to Jim Knowles as the new defensive coordinator or integrating three new transfer wide receivers into a run-first offense, they can use Weeks 1-3 to do it. However, by Week 3, when Villanova comes to Happy Valley, you can almost guarantee that it will be smooth sailing for the Nittany Lions.
Villanova went 10-3 last season, including a 38-20 loss to Maryland, a team that Penn State beat 44-7 in the final week of last year’s regular season. There are levels to college football, and September 13 will be a reminder of that.
Week 7: vs. Northwestern
There were a couple of candidates for the Big Ten cupcake on Penn State’s schedule, and Northwestern shouldn’t be the only conference team that the Nittany Lions blowout, but with this game being played at home in Week 7 and Penn State travelling to Rutgers in the final week of the year, the Wildcats earned the distinct honor as Penn State’s conference cupcake in 2025.
The addition of Preston Stone from SMU out of the transfer portal greatly improves Northwestern’s quarterback situation, but QB was far from the only position on the roster that needed an upgrade. David Braun’s program ranked 124th in the country in offensive success rate last season and 91st in defensive success rate.