Penn State Football to play Black Friday game against Michigan State at Ford Field

(WHTM) – Penn State Football will play Michigan State for the Land Grant Trophy at Ford Field in Detroit on Black Friday, Nov. 24.

The 7:30 p.m. kickoff from Detroit will be Penn State’s first Black Friday game since 1982 when the Nittany Lions defeated the Pitt Panthers 19-10. Penn State has played a total of four games on Black Friday (1976, 1978, 1980, 1982).

This also won’t be the first time Penn State head coach James Franklin has coached at Ford Field. In 2005 Franklin worked as the Green Bay Packers’ wide receivers coach when they lost the season opener at Detroit 17-3.

Penn State has played Michigan State 36 times with their first meeting taking place on Nov. 13, 1914, where Michigan State would defeat the Nittany Lions 6-3.

Since that 1914 matchup Penn State is 17-18-1 against Michigan State all-time. Penn State defeated the Spartans 35-16 last season.

In 1993, the Land Grant Trophy would be born and the two schools would face off to determine who takes home one of the most unique trophies in college football. Penn State and Michigan State were the first two land-grant institutions in the United States with both schools being founded in 1855.

Penn State Football also announced the following home game themes for the 2023 season:

• Penn State vs. West Virginia
• Penn State vs. Delaware
• Penn State vs. Iowa
• Penn State vs. UMass
  • Oct. 14 (Time TBA)
    • Generations of Greatness/Homecoming
• Penn State vs. Indiana
• Penn State vs. Michigan
• Penn State vs. Rutgers

Another local football tie to Black Friday will come when Camp Hill native Zack Kuntz and the New York Jets play the Miami Dolphins for the NFL’s first Black Friday game on Amazon Prime.

Kuntz was drafted in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Old Dominion.

Former Penn State and current Green Bay Packers quarterback Sean Clifford will also be in Detroit that week with the Packers playing at Ford Field on Thanksgiving.