Penn State-West Virginia Duel Slated for Big Noon Kickoff

© Dan Rainville-USA Today Network

The countdown is officially on for the 2024 Penn State football season as it was revealed that the Nittany Lions season opener at West Virginia is set to kickoff at noon on Aug. 31 on FOX.

This will open the 2024 slate of FOX Big Noon Kickoff games where the blue and white appeared twice last season against Ohio State and Michigan. Penn State had eight total noon kickoff games in 2023.

Penn State and West Virginia met to open the 2023 season in Happy Valley, Penn., a contest where the Nittany Lions won by a convincing 38-15 score in quarterback Drew Allar's first career start. That meeting was the first between the two schools since the 1992 season.

The 2024 meeing will be the 51st meeting between the two teams with Penn State leading the all-time series 43-6-1. West Virginia last defeated the Nittany Lions in 1988 in Morgantown, W. Va.

Penn State also received more information for two more game times.

Their Week 2 contest and home-opener against Bowling Green on Sept. 7 will also be slated for a noon kickoff on Big Ten Network. It will be the Nittany Lions third meeting against Bowling Green and first since 1998 when Penn State won a home contest by the score of 48-3.

Penn State holds a 37-2 record against the Mid-American Conference.

The Bowling Green game will kickoff a four-game homestand for Penn State, which will end with its first meeting with UCLA in its first season as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Additionally, the Sept. 28 home game and conference-opener against Illinois will either kickoff at 3:30 p.m., 4 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. (EST) with the network still to be determined.

Penn State defeated Illinois 30-13 on the road in 2023 and holds a 21-6 mark against the Illini all-time.

That game will serve as the Homecoming Game for the blue and white, similar to the two teams' meeting in 2021 at Beaver Stadium which set a record for nine overtimes in a Penn State upset loss.

The Nittany Lions finished with a 10-3 record in 2023 and made a New Years Six bowl game appearance against Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl, losing 38-25 to the Rebels.