Maryland-Penn State game will move to Friday night in 2019

For the first time since the Big Ten started playing games on Friday nights, Maryland will be involved. Instead of hosting Penn State on Saturday, Sept. 28, the Terps will welcome the Nittany Lions and their rabid fan base to College Park one day earlier.

Kickoff time will be announced at a later date, and the game is the Big Ten opener for both teams. Maryland will host Howard and Syracuse and head to Temple before getting nearly two weeks to prepare for what should be a top-25 Penn State team. It will be the first night game at Maryland Stadium since Oct. 22, 2016, when the Terps defeated Michigan State 28-17 in the annual blackout game.

While Maryland has not said anything about the Friday night games, Penn State has vehemently opposed the idea. The school said it would refuse to host Friday night games in a 2016 statement, and head coach James Franklin said at Big Ten Media Day this summer that he likes the traditional model of high school football on Friday, college football on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday. The Big Ten started playing Friday night games in 2017, with three conference games in primetime so far.

The Nittany Lions traveled to Illinois on Sept. 21 for a Friday night showdown, and the Illini had them on upset alert in the third quarter before Penn State scored 42 straight points and romped to a 63-24 victory. Just like Illinois, the Terps have also struggled against the Nittany Lions, losing 66-3 and 38-3 to Penn State the past two seasons.

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