Penn State Announces Kickoff Time for Game Vs. UCLA

The UCLA Bruins get an early start when they visit Penn State's Beaver Stadium for the first time since 1967.

A general view of Penn State's Beaver Stadium prior to a college football game. / Matthew OHaren-Imagn Images

UCLA will get an early wakeup call when it visits Penn State for the first time as a member of the Big Ten. Penn State will host UCLA for a noon ET kickoff Oct. 5 at Beaver Stadium, the conference announced Monday as part of its 12-day schedule update. The game will be televised on FOX's Big Noon kickoff broadcast.

The game will be UCLA's first noon ET (or 9 a.m. PT) kickoff since joining the Big Ten. The Bruins hosted Indiana for a 4;30 p.m. PT game at the Rose Bowl in their conference opener. Both Penn State and UCLA will play the game following prime-time kickoffs. Penn State (3-0) hosts Illinois for a 7:30 p.m. ET game Saturday. UCLA, meanwhile, hosts Oregon on Saturday for an 8 p.m. PT kickoff, a game that FOX will broadcast at 11 p.m. ET.

Penn State and UCLA have not played since 1968, when the Nittany Lions defeated the Bruins 21-6 at Memorial Coliseum. UCLA won its last game in State College 17-15 in 1967, recovering a late onside kick to preserve the victory.

Just in: Week 6⃣ kick and network designations 👀#B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/F2tnGYRlsK

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 23, 2024

First up for No. 10 Penn State (3-0) in Big Ten play is unbeaten Illinois for a top-20 game at Beaver Stadium. In their most recent game, the Nittany Lions set a school record with 718 yards of offense in a 56-0 win over Kent State, rolling up a record 40 first downs and scoring touchdowns on nine of
their 12 series. Quarterback Drew Allar went 17-for-21 for 309 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another. Tight end Tyler Warren caught and threw touchdown passes.

"It's interesting, because you play this type of opponent, and everybody thinks it's just going to be easy, right? You know, they still got scholarship athletes," Penn State coach James Franklin said after the game. "And I know they've had some struggles this year, but they came out here and fought, and we started out a little bit slower than I would have liked. But overall, I thought we took a really good step. We went on the road and won in a tough environment [at West Virginia in Week 1]. We played well enough to win [against Bowling Green in Week 2] but probably not up to our standard, which I'll admit. And then I thought this week we did what we needed to do."

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Penn State on SI is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on X (or Twitter) @MarkWogenrich.