Penn State Probably Won't Miss Playing at Michigan State This Season

The Lions have struggled recently at Spartan Stadium, where the weather has been grim. Ford Field could be a welcome change.

Raj Mehta/USA Today Sports

At first glance, Penn State's Black Friday road game against Michigan State does the team no favors. The Lions can't be thrilled with having their regular-season finale shifted to create a short week at the end of a grueling Big Ten season. In the conference championship chase, every edge matters.

But Penn State got one concession, for what it's worth. The Penn State-Michigan State not only was moved up a day, from Saturday to Black Friday, but also was relocated to Ford Field in Detroit. Now, the Lions and Spartans will meet on Nov. 24 for an NBC prime-time broadcast that the Big Ten, Michigan State and the Detroit Lions sold as a celebration of football in the state of Michigan.

Penn State coach James Franklin might feel less celebratory. His team loses a recovery day during the last week of a debilitating season, which likely will be noted in the coming collective bargaining discussions. It will affect how the Lions approach their previous game (at home vs. Rutgers) and how they will practice for their last two games. It means squeezing one day out of a prep week that also includes Thanksgiving dinner with players and their families. Most of all, it means asking players potentially to sacrifice health for a television contract, which also boosts the players-as-employees argument.

But at least Penn State doesn't have to play at Spartan Stadium this year. For Franklin and the Lions, that place has been a dreary place of broken dreams. Franklin's teams are 1-3 at Spartan Stadium, having played through rain, snow, lightning and a center running for a touchdown. Ford Field couldn't be any worse. Consider:

In 2015, his first trip to East Lansing, Franklin brought a team laboring through the end of the sanctions era to face a Michigan State team playing for a spot in the Big Ten title game. The Spartans scored 35 second-half points, punctuating a 55-16 rout by handing off to a 295-pound center for the final score.

In 2017, the teams waited out a 3-hour, 20-minute weather delay in very different ways. Michigan State benefited from a home locker room, while the Lions sat in hallways and meeting rooms awaiting the restart. When the game resumed, the Lions were off, which they were most of the entire day. Michigan State kicked a game-ending field goal to seal a surprising 27-24 win over the seventh-ranked Lions, who left the field in shock.

Rain followed the Lions again to Spartan Stadium in 2019, but this game went much better. Quarterback Sean Clifford threw four touchdown passes, three to Pat Freiermuth, and the Lions routed Michigan State 28-7 to remain unbeaten. But their perfect season ended two weeks later at Minnesota.

And in 2021, snow and mistakes hamstrung the Lions, who nevertheless nearly rallied from an early 14-point deficit. This game was a Penn State case study in frustration: The Lions turned over the ball on consecutive touches, twice were stuffed on 4th-and-1 run plays and lost four points via a missed field goal and extra point. Yet when Clifford hit Brenton Strange to convert a fourth-quarter 4th-and-24, the Lions had hope. That hope ended with a stinging 30-27 loss at Spartan Stadium.

So not having to visit this funhouse might benefit Penn State, at least psychologically. The Lions won't have to engage the elements inside Ford Field, and Franklin won't wonder what could go wrong next. Still, this shift sets another precedent for future Big Ten schedules. Under Franklin, Penn State has resisted playing home games on days other than Saturday. The program hasn't played a Friday home game since 1982, the last of three consecutive post-Thanksgiving games against Pitt at Beaver Stadium. Could a weeknight home game be next?

And certainly, the Lions have played short-week games before. The most recent was in 2018, when Penn State visited Illinois for a Friday-night Big Ten opener in September. But that was Game 4 of the regular season, not Game 12. And it was the Big Ten opener, not the finale. This will mark the first time Penn State is playing Game 12 of the regular season on the road and on short rest.

Penn State already had issues with the 2023 Big Ten schedule, since it opens conference play on the road for the eighth consecutive year. Having to close conference play on the road on a short week adds to the frustration. But at least the Lions will avoid Spartan Stadium.