On the football field, the Nittany Lions are 2-0 heading into Week 3, so the vibes are high in Happy Valley. Penn State is returning home for a matchup against Buffalo at Beaver Stadium, its final non-conference game before diving into the Big Ten, but that’s not all that’s happening around the athletic department.
Let’s get into a few pieces of news around Penn State athletics.
1986 national championship team to be honored in Week 3
Well, some of that news was going to be about the Week 3 matchup, of course. But this isn’t about the game itself; more about the pomp and circumstance surrounding it as the 1986 Penn State national championship team returns for their 40th anniversary season.
A large contingent of that team, Penn State’s last national title winner, will be present at Beaver Stadium and take part in a halftime ceremony. Beyond simply honoring the 40th anniversary of that championship, new head coach Matt Campbell has made it his mission to re-embrace the Joe Paterno era at Penn State, and this ceremony appears to be a natural extension of that.
That 1986 squad went undefeated, 12-0, downing Miami 14-10 in the Fiesta Bowl to claim the program’s second title.
Big Ten basketball schedules set for both men and women’s hoops
On Wednesday night, the Big Ten released its schedules for the men’s and women’s 2026-27 season, now just weeks away. For the Penn State men, conference play opens on Dec. 8 at the Bryce Jordan Center, hosting Nebraska, one of the darlings of the conference a year ago. The Penn State women open with Michigan State on Dec. 6 at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
The Penn State men will play 32 regular-season contests in Mike Rhoades’ fourth year at the helm. Rhoades is still searching for his first trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Penn State women are embarking on a new era under first-year head coach Tanisha Wright, who was hired to replace Carolyn Kieger in March.
Matt Campbell highlights Buffalo WR Chance Morrow
Through two games, Penn State’s defense has allowed just one touchdown, but that stout defensive play under new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn doesn’t mean Campbell and his staff are taking the Bulls, who are 1-1 after a loss to FIU in Week 2, lightly.
In his midweek availability, Campbell, whose team is a 40.5-point favorite at home, highlighted Buffalo wide receiver Chance Morrow as a player on Buffalo’s offense with “elite talent” and an “elite catch radius” at 6-4, 191 pounds.
Morrow is Buffalo’s leading receiver this season with 218 yards and all five of the team’s offensive touchdowns. No other player on the Buffalo offense has more than 100 yards from scrimmage.
More: No. 9 Penn State women’s volleyball set to close non-conference slate
Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s Nittany Lions are 7-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming to No. 3 Kentucky at Wrigley Field on September 6. Since that 3-1 defeat, Penn State has won four straight matches, including a sweep of No. 4 Stanford, and has dropped just one set.
On Friday, Schumacher-Cawley’s team will test that hot streak against South Florida at Rec Hall to tip-off the Penn State classic before hosting No. 16 Tennessee on Sunday to close out the non-conference slate. Next Friday, Penn State will be in Michigan to open Big Ten play against the Wolverines on Friday before playing Michigan State in East Lansing on Sunday.
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