2025 PSU vs. Nebraska

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General Pre-Game Information

• Game Eleven of 2025 season—This is Senior Day and the seventh & final home game of the regular season. This will be the final home regular season game where Nike gear is worn/used. It is probably the final home game for Penn State Interim Head Coach, Terry Smith. It is also the first game against Nebraska with former Penn State player, Matt Rhule, as the Cornhuskers head coach (Rhule is in his 3rd season at Nebraska). This is the first time that PSU (4-6, 1-6) has faced a former player-turned head coach in a Big Ten game. The Huskers (7-3, 4-3) come into this game off their 2nd Bye Week. Their most recent game was at UCLA on Nov. 8th which saw the Huskers win 28-21 behind QB TJ Lateef who passed for 205 yards and 3 TDs. Nebraska lost its regular starting QB Dylan Raiola to a broken fibula on a 3rd quarter sack in the loss to USC on Nov. 1 (Nebraska was 6-3 at that point).

• Last PSU Game: Penn State 28 Michigan State 10 (PSU halts 6-game losing streak with 1st Big Ten win of season and 1st win for interim head coach Terry Smith—Smith matches Tom Bradley’s 1-win as interim coach in 2011)

• This week’s rankings: CFP Poll PSU #NR for 3rd straight week (Nov. 18 CFP Poll-#1 Ohio State, #2 Indiana, also #7 Oregon) / AP Poll PSU #NR for 7th straight week (Nov. 16 AP Poll-#1 Ohio State, #2 Indiana, also #6-tie Oregon) / Coaches Poll PSU #NR for 6th straight week (Nov. 16 Coaches Poll-#1 Ohio State, #2 Indiana, also #5 Oregon)

• 19th meeting with Nebraska all-time: The series dates to a 1920 game at New Beaver Field which was a 20-0 Penn State victory highlighted by a 35-yard TD pass from Glenn Killinger to Ross “Squeak” Hufford and a 57-yard TD run by Charley Way. Penn State is 8-10 all-time vs. the Huskers (1-4 in games played in the Big Ten since Nebraska joined in 2011—One of the losses was in OT). James Franklin was 1-1 vs. Nebraska. Penn State’s last win in this series was in 2017 by the score of 56-44 at Beaver Stadium.

• 7th meeting with Huskers at Beaver Stadium: PSU is 3-3 at Beaver Stadium (6-3 all-time at home) vs. Nebraska. Their last game at Beaver Stadium was in 2017 (a 56-44 PSU win)—it is State’s only win over Nebraska where both are Big Ten members. The Nittany Lions were 2-1 vs. Nebraska at Beaver Stadium prior the Huskers joining the Big Ten—the two victories came in 1982 and 2002.

• Their last meeting was in 2020 at Nebraska: Penn State lost 30-23 at a largely empty Memorial Stadium in Lincoln due to Covid attendance restrictions. The loss left PSU 0-4 to start that season. Sean Clifford started at QB but was replaced by Will Levis after an interception and a QB fumble returned for a TD which gave the Huskers a 24-3 lead. Pat Freiermuth TE made 7 receptions for 113 yards in his final game for the Nittany Lions (he required surgery for a shoulder injury suffered against Ohio State 2 weeks earlier). The Lions got TD runs from Keyvone Lee (31 yds.) and Devyn Ford (5 yds.) and 3 FGs from Jake Pinegar in the loss.

• This is the second time that PSU has hosted Nebraska with an interim coach at the helm. Tom Bradley debuted as interim head coach in the Nov. 12, 2011 game vs. the #19 Huskers at Beaver Stadium which followed right on the heels of the firing of Joe Paterno. A shell-shocked crowd of over 107 thousand was on hand to watch the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions fall, 17-14, in an absolute “zero energy” first meeting of the two schools as members of the Big Ten.

• The Matt Rhule connection to Penn State: Rhule, who has been the Huskers head coach since 2023, is a State College High School grad and a former walk-on tight end & primarily linebacker who played at PSU under Joe Paterno from 1994 to 1997. Matt was also briefly a volunteer assistant coach at PSU in 1998 before landing his first coaching job handling the linebackers at Division 3 Albright College.

• The Matt Rhule connection to Penn State AD Pat Kraft: Rhule was head coach at Temple (2013-2016) at the time Kraft was assistant AD and later the AD there. Not surprisingly, Rhule had been mentioned as a possible candidate to replace the fired James Franklin until he signed a two-year contract extension through the 2032 season with the Huskers on October 30.

• The Matt Rhule connection to PSU Interim Head Coach Terry Smith: Terry was the wide receivers coach under Rhule in his first season as head coach at Temple (2013). Prior to that, Terry had been a high school coach in the Pittsburgh area. Smith joined James Franklin’s first staff at Penn State a year later.

• Penn State vs. Matt Rhule: Although this is Rhule’s first game against PSU as the Nebraska head coach, he has previously faced his alma mater as head coach at Temple (2013-2016). Under Rhule, the Owls played James Franklin and the Nittany Lions three times from 2014 through 2016. The 2015 game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia saw Rhule direct the Owls to a stunning season-opening, 27-10 victory over Penn State (it was Temple’s first win in this series since 1941). Temple sacked PSU quarterback Christian Hackenberg 10 times in that game. Rhule and the Owls also gave PSU a close game in 2016 losing 34-27 at Beaver Stadium in week 3 of the season. Rhule led Temple to the AAC title in 2016. Rhule also faced PSU on six occasions as an assistant at Temple (2006-2011); all 6 games were Penn State victories. Note: Rhule and Nebraska were originally scheduled in spring 2021 (and again in June 2023) to appear at Beaver Stadium in the 2024 season, but the late additions of Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten for 2024 led to a schedule shake-up in October 2023 that bumped Rhule’s first visit to Penn State into the 2025 season.

• Former PSU player vs. former PSU player: Matt Rhule (PSU ‘97) vs. Terry Smith (PSU ‘91) is the first meeting of two former Penn State players as college head coaches since 2016 when Greg Gattuso (PS 1980-83) of Albany took on Richmond and Dan Rocco (PS 1979-81)—Gattuso is currently a Sr. Defensive Analyst with PSU. The last time it happened in an FBS game was in 2013 when Rhule (in his first season at Temple) faced UConn and former PSU player Paul Pasqualoni (PS 1969-71).

• Matt Rhule is one of 9 former PSU players to face his Alma Mater as the head coach of an opponent: Rhule has done so with Temple and soon Nebraska, so he will become the second to do it with two different colleges. Prior former players turned coaches and their opponent schools—George Hoskins (WUP-Pitt & Bucknell), Pete Mauthe (Gettysburg), Robert “Punk” Berryman (Gettysburg), Earle Edwards (NC State), Joe Yukica (Boston College), Al Michaels (NC State), Dick Anderson (Rutgers), & Al Golden (Temple). Hoskins (1899 with Bucknell), Anderson (1988), and Rhule (2015 with Temple) are the only ones from this group to beat Penn State as head coaches. Dick Anderson (Rutgers) is the only one to win in State College.

• 2nd 7pm ET kick and 3rd Primetime kick for PSU in 2025. Penn State lost at Iowa in the other 7pm ET kick (on Peacock streaming) this fall and also lost to Oregon (7:30pm ET on NBC) in the other Primetime kick this season. The kick time and TV network for this game was set late on Nov. 15 as part of the 6-day selection window.

• This is the latest game by date (Nov. 22) ever to be played in Primetime (7pm ET) at Beaver Stadium. This game passes the Nov. 9, 2024 game vs. Washington (Whiteout at 8pm ET) as the latest “Primetime game” by date at PSU. Technically, the latest “night game” by date at PSU is the Dec. 19, 2020 game vs. Illinois (5:30pm EST kick at Beaver Stadium—a result, in part, of the Covid-impact shift in the schedule). Historically for weather reasons, Penn State has tried to avoid scheduling night games beyond late October or the first weekend in November.

• Penn State is 0-2 this season in night games: losing to Oregon (in 2-OT) at home, and at Iowa. Terry Smith is 0-1 in night games since becoming interim head coach ahead of the Iowa game.

  TV Information

• NBC Gameday Announcers for Big Ten Saturday Night: Noah Eagle & Todd Blackledge (PSU QB 1979-82) with Kathryn Tappen on the sidelines. This is Eagle and Blackledge’s second PSU telecast of the season joining the Oregon Whiteout loss in September. This is also the third game in 2025 to appear on Peacock streaming along with the Oregon & Iowa losses.

• Sixth PSU game on NBC-TV in primetime under the current Big Ten TV contract which began in 2023. PSU is 4-1 on NBC over the past 2+ seasons with home wins over West Virginia (2023) & Illinois (2024) and road wins vs. Michigan State in Detroit (2023) & at Wisconsin (2024). The lone loss was vs. Oregon (2025). This is just the fifth game on NBC’s Big Ten Saturday Night as the 2023 Michigan State game at Ford Field in Detroit was played the Friday night after Thanksgiving. This is also the 9th game to appear on Peacock streaming including three “Peacock-only” games (2023 Delaware, 2024 Washington, and 2025 Iowa). Penn State is 6-2 on all NBC-owned platforms under the current TV contract.

• Prior to the current TV package, NBC had not televised a game from Beaver Stadium since the 1964 PSU-Navy game that featured Midshipmen Heisman Trophy winner, Roger Staubach, in his lone appearance at Penn State (a 21-8 PSU loss)—NBC aired the Navy game in “color and black & white” on a regional basis primarily in the mid-Atlantic and northeast US. NBC has aired a number of Penn State games over the years, notably bowl games beginning with the 1959 Liberty Bowl (Penn State’s first bowl victory, 7-0 over Alabama). Since 1966, when Penn State began officially tracking TV telecasts, PSU is 11-4 in games played on NBC (including a 7-1 record in Orange & Fiesta Bowls aired on NBC).

• This is the seventh game this season to be televised on a traditional TV Network—The Oregon game also appeared on NBC; the Nevada, UCLA & Michigan State games were on CBS; and both the Ohio State & Indiana games were on FOX Big Noon.

• This game is part of an NBC East-West doubleheader with the Washington at UCLA game at 10:30pm EST/7:30pm PST. The PSU-Nebraska game is also scheduled against the Illinois at Wisconsin game on BTN at 7:30pm EST/6:30pm CST.