Penn State football will kick off against Illinois at 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 28. The Nittany Lions narrowed down their kickoff time from an afternoon or evening kick, which was announced over the summer.

Penn State’s game against the Fighting Illini will be its first night game of the season. The Nittany Lions have previously faced West Virginia and Bowling Green at noon and will face Kent State at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Penn State has played Illinois 27 times, winning 21 of those games. Most recently, the Nittany Lions defeated the Illini on the road in last season’s 30-13 win. The Illini beat Penn State in Beaver Stadium in 2021, taking a historic, nine-overtime game 20-18.

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Joe Lister

Joe, shockingly, was Onward State's managing editor from 2024-25. It was an honor. He's off employed doing journalism things, hopefully. If you want to complain about anything he's ever written, you can find him on Twitter (iamjoelister), email ([email protected]), or Signal (iamjoelister.93).

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