Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1503568
A U G U S T 2 0 2 3 8 3 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M S C H E D U L E S U P E R L A T I V E S B E S T H O M E O P P O N E N T Michigan The Wolverines have won the past two Big Ten titles and are the pre- season favorites to three-peat. It's worth noting, however, that Penn State has been much more competitive at the Beav than in the Big House, having won five of its past seven home games in this series. B E S T R O A D O P P O N E N T Ohio State Penn State hasn't had much luck at home or on the road against the Buckeyes, dropping 10 of the past 11 games in the series. The Horse- shoe has been a particularly inhospitable venue. Since the start of the Big Ten era in 1993, the Nittany Lions have won just twice in 15 visits to Columbus. No matter what Ohio State is bringing to the table this year, it's going to be tough to earn a win on Oct. 21. B E S T O P P O S I N G O F F E N S I V E P L A Y E R Blake Corum The 5-foot-8, 210-pound Michigan senior is built like a wrecking ball, but he also has a shifty elusiveness that few running backs can match. Assuming he's fully recovered from the left knee injury that ended his junior season prematurely, he'll be a big problem for PSU on Nov. 11, just as he was last year when he gashed the Lions for 166 yards and 2 touchdowns in Ann Arbor. B E S T O P P O S I N G D E F E N S I V E P L A Y E R JT Tuimoloau Tuimoloau slammed the door on Penn State with a 14-yard pick six in the fourth quarter last October, the culmination of a dominant af- ternoon in which he had a hand in 4 Ohio State takeaways that yielded 21 points. More of that from the 6-foot-4, 271-pound junior defensive end would go a long way toward re-establishing the Buckeyes as Big Ten frontrunners. B E S T R O A D T R I P Illinois Penn State hasn't set foot in Champaign since 2018, when it rolled to a 63-24 win. The Illini were a mess back then, but third-year coach Bret Bielema has brought some excitement to the program. Illinois announced in May that 93 percent of its season-ticket holders had renewed and that 6,500 new season passes had been sold, the pro- gram's best numbers since 2008. It should make for a great backdrop on Sept. 16 when the two teams open their respective Big Ten campaigns. 2018. It has also won six of its past eight against Iowa. Those trends should give rise to optimism heading into the upcoming matchup, but of course, the trends were looking good back in 2009, too. Taken as a whole, Penn State's schedule is one of the tough- est in the country this year, coming in 14th in ESPN's degree- of-difficulty rankings. In addition to the annual White Out game, the highlights include season-defining battles with Ohio State and Michigan; visits to Illinois and Maryland, both of which have been on the rise lately; and the return of former Eastern Independent rival West Virginia after a nearly three- decade absence. It'll be a 112-day gauntlet for a Penn State team that aspires to compete at college football's highest level this fall. ■