Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1294210
F O O T B A L L PSU eager to take on challenges of fall season When the Big Ten announced on Aug. 11 that it was postponing its fall football season, league officials all but assured themselves of a backlash when they struggled to answer the most obvious question posed by their decision to abandon a schedule that had been re- vealed only six days earlier: What changed? Commissioner Kevin Warren cited un- certainty about the health risks associ- ated with COVID-19, but there had been uncertainty a week earlier, and it hadn't prevented the league from announcing a 10-game conference-only schedule. The abrupt reversal confounded players, parents, coaches and fans. An online pe- tition by Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields to reinstate the season garnered more than 250,000 signatures in one day. A handful of parents gathered at the league's headquarters in suburban Chicago to stage a protest, and eight Ne- braska players filed a lawsuit against the conference, demanding that it reverse what the players' attorney described as an "arbitrary and capricious" decision to postpone. The issue even became an election year political tussle when Presi- dent Trump called Warren to push for a resumption. On Sept. 16, those people got what they wanted. Five weeks after issuing its post- ponement, the Big Ten reversed course, announcing that it would stage a fall sea- son after all. The 2020 campaign will consist of nine games in nine weeks. It will begin the weekend of Oct. 23-24 and will wrap up on Dec. 19 with the league championship game and six other crossover games matching the East and | PENN STATE'S 2020 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE OCTOBER 24 at Indiana..............................................................TBA 31 OHIO STATE........................................................... TBA NOVEMBER 7 MARYLAND............................................................ TBA 14 at Nebraska...........................................................TBA 21 IOWA.....................................................................TBA 28 at Michigan............................................................TBA DECEMBER 5 at Rutgers............................................................. TBA 12 MICHIGAN STATE....................................................TBA 19 Big Ten Champions Week – East vs. West................ TBA NEWS & NOTES NO ENTRY Fans will not be allowed to attend games, nor can they tailgate on campus this fall. Graphic by Penn State Athletics