Penn State-Purdue: Start time, channel, how to watch and stream

The Penn State Nittany Lions kick off their 2022 college football season Thursday on the road against the Purdue Boilermakers in a primetime Big Ten matchup.

Penn State, led by head coach James Franklin, enters the season unranked on the AP’s Top 25 list. The Nittany Lions are 67-34 under Franklin, but went just 11-11 over the past two years, including losing six of their final eight games last season. As ESPN’s Pete Thamel put it, under Franklin ”the program has both teased the sport’s highest levels and tumbled to mediocrity, showing the potential in State College and highlighting the flaws.”

Meanwhile, Boilermakers coach Jeff Brohm is coming off Purdue’s best season in 18 years, a 9-4 campaign that included wins over Iowa and Michigan State and a victory in the Music City Bowl against Tennessee.

» READ MORE: College football 2022: Sizing up Penn State’s prospects

Returning at quarterback for his sixth season with the Nittany Lions — his fourth as a starter — is 24-year-old Sean Clifford. During the offseason, Clifford was an outspoken advocate for giving student athletes better medical benefits and launched his own agency — Limitless NIL — to represent college students. His backup against Purdue will be freshman Drew Allar, who checks in at 6-foot-5, 242 pounds.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream tonight’s Penn State-Purdue matchup:

Penn State vs. Purdue will air Thursday on Fox, with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern. The game is being played at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind., where the Boilermakers are just 3-4 under the lights (which were installed in 2017).

Calling the game will be Fox’s top college football booth — Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt, with Jenny Taft reporting from the sideline. Pregame coverage will begin at 7 p.m. with FOX College Football Pregame, featuring Rob Stone, Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush, and Matt Leinart. Also rejoining Fox’s college football studio coverage is Urban Meyer, who returns to TV after being fired from the Jacksonville Jaguars and accused of kicking and harassing former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo, who is suing the team.

Penn State vs. Purdue will stream on the Fox Sports app, but you’ll need to be a cable subscriber to log in.

The game will also stream on a host of so-called “skinny bundles” that carry Fox, including fuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream. Most over a free trial.

If you’re looking to stream the game for free, your best option if you live near Philadelphia is to use an over-the-air antenna.

Philly sports fans can also tune in to Penn State-Purdue on 1210 WPHT thanks to a multi-year deal signed in 2019 that also includes live coverage of Penn State men’s basketball

Returning to the booth for his 23rd season calling Penn State football is play-by-play announcer Steve Jones. He’ll be joined on the broadcast by analyst Jack Ham, a former Nittany Lions linebacker and NFL Hall of Famer who won four Super Bowls during the 1970s with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Outside of Philadelphia, here is a list of the affiliates carrying Penn State football.

The game will air on Fox instead of ESPN thanks to Joe Buck’s decision to leave the network and join his longtime football partner, Troy Aikman, in the booth on Monday Night Football.

Fox agreed to let Buck leave despite having a year remaining on his contract in exchange for the an extra pick from this season’s Big Ten’s football slate, which happened to be Penn State versus Purdue.

Instead, ESPN will air West Virginia-Pittsburgh Thursday at 7 p.m. from the newly renamed Acrisure Stadium (formerly known as Heinz Field), best known as the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Nittany Lions carry a nine-game winning streak into Ross–Ade Stadium, dating back to 2005.

The last time the two teams faced off was in 2019, with Penn State pulling off an easy 35-7 win. Overall, the Nittany Lions are 15-3-1 against the Boilermakers.