Penn State-Central Michigan: Game time, channel, how to watch and stream

Penn State (3-0) entered the season unranked, but will face the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-2) on Saturday as the No. 14 team in the country, according to the AP Top 25 college football poll.

Despite the improvement, and the team’s blowout victory against Auburn last week, head coach James Franklin isn’t quite ready to celebrate.

“I think it was a step in the right direction,” Franklin said. “But we still have work to do and I’m still not ready to pound the table [vouching] for them. I probably won’t be all year long because as soon as I say something positive, something won’t go well. So, I’m going to hold my thoughts.”

» READ MORE: James Franklin still isn’t ready to ‘pound his fist’ even as Penn State climbs the polls

Saturday’s game will be Penn State’s final nonconference opponent at home, and they’re favored by more than three touchdowns. The Nittany Lions have only faced the Chippewas once before, a 2005 blowout that Penn State won 40-3.

So what exactly is a Chippewa? Also known as the Ojibway or Ojibwe, it’s a Native American tribal population centered around the Great Lakes in Canada and the northern United States. Central Michigan has used Chippewas as its nickname since 1942 with the permission of the local tribe, which is why it’s one of five schools granted waivers when the NCAA deemed Native American-inspired nicknames at 18 universities “hostile and abusive.”

“The tribe is the one that determines how we use it,” Central Michigan president Bob Davies told the Detroit Free Press in 2020. “At any point in time, that can change. That’s the tribe’s decision, not necessarily our decision.”

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the Penn State-Central Michigan matchup:

Penn State-Central Michigan is scheduled to kick off at noon Eastern on the Big Ten Network.

Calling the game will be play-by-play announcer Mark Followill and analyst Matt Millen, a former Penn State star and four-time Super Bowl champ during his 12-year NFL career. Matt McGloin will report from the sideline at Beaver Stadium.

The game will also air on radio in Philadelphia on 1210 WPHT. Steve Jones, in his 23rd season calling Penn State football, is on play-by-play. He’s joined 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.

Penn State-Central Michigan will stream on the Fox Sports app, though it will only be available to those with a cable subscription.

The game will also stream on any so-called skinny bundle that carries the Big Ten Network, including fuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream. Most offer a free trial.

An unassuming visitor showed up to Penn State’s walk-on tryout.

He strolled into Holuba Hall wearing a long, flowing blond wig and a matching fake mustache. He wore a Penn State football T-shirt and just enough makeup to mask his identity.

Despite what the paperwork said, this wasn’t Chad Powers, class of 2022 quarterback who was homeschooled and coached by his mother. It was retired Giants quarterback and future NFL Hall of Famer Eli Manning.

“When they reached out about doing this, obviously we wanted to be a part of it,” said Franklin, Penn State’s coach. “At the end of the day for me, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to disturb our process of what we needed to do and not become a distraction.”

» READ MORE: Eli Manning dresses as Chad Powers during undercover tryout at Penn State

Freelance writer Sam Cohn contributed to this article.