While Big Ten will become a permanent fixture on CBS’s exclusive 3:30 p.m. The first of those contests to be announced should be a great scene like state of pennsylvania will be the host Iowa on Saturday, September 23 at 8 p.m. ET in a White Out game.
The Big Ten show on CBS will officially kick off in week 1 on Saturday, September 2 with future game selections to be announced at a later date. In the meantime, however, the Happy Valley matchup between the Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes will introduce two major Big Ten shows to a national primetime audience in Week 4.
The 2023 season marks the first as part of a seven-year deal between CBS and the Big Ten. Games will be played at various time slots in 2023 before moving to the traditional 3:30 p.m. window in 2024.
Penn State is 17-14 all-time against Iowa, though it has lost two straight after winning six in a row previously.
The Nittany Lions enter the 2023 season with high expectations. The reigning Rose Bowl champions return five offensive linemen who started at least five games last season, including star OL Olumuyiwa Fashanu, who chose to return to school for one final season rather than declare for the 2023 NFL Draft. Fashanu was projected as an early first-round pick before deciding to return to Happy Valley.
Perhaps the biggest addition to Penn State’s starting lineup, however, is former five-star QB Drew Allar at the helm of offense. Allar appeared in 10 games last season while serving as Sean Clifford’s backup and completed 35 of 60 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns. Penn State also returns with a pair of dynamic running backs, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who combined for 1,928 rushing yards and 24 total touchdowns last season. Allar’s top two receiving targets are expected to be WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith and TE Theo Johnson.
Iowa is coming off a disastrous season offensively. The Hawkeyes ranked as the second-worst offense in the FBS in yards per game (251.6) and ninth-worst in points per game (17.7). In the offseason, Iowa added QB Cade McNamara and TE Erick Ali, who both played at Michigan last season. McNamara and Ali are expected to start for the Hawkeyes.
The Hawkeyes also landed one of the best wide receivers available on the transfer portal in former WR Kaleb Brown from Ohio State, who ranked as a four-star recruit and No. 78 overall player in the 2022 recruiting cycle. by 247Sports. Brown only played 27 total offensive snaps in 2022 and was buried on an Ohio State receiving depth chart that included Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka.
