Penn State needed a late surge, led by a pair of freshmen, to shake Fairfield and win its season-opener 76-68 on Monday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. Coach Mike Rhoades' almost entirely new roster, which features eight freshmen, scored the game's last 11 points to "whew!" its way past the Stags as a 15.5-point favorite.

It’s been a whirlwind 2025 for Terry Smith. He first joined the football staff at Penn State in 2014 when James Franklin got the head coaching job and brought him in to coach the Nittany Lion cornerbacks and lead defensive recruiting efforts.

On the second play out of halftime, quarterback Julian Sayin connected on a 57-yard pass to receiver Carnell Tate, which eventually set up a touchdown run for CJ Donaldson. The play worked to perfection, with Tate beating a Penn State defensive back and finding open space down the field.

Curt Cignetti's Hoosiers have a potentially challenging road test Saturday at Penn State. Here's the kickoff time and TV information, plus more game details.

Penn State’s roller coaster of a 2025 season will be over by the end of November. At that point, and even before it, all focus will be on the next head coach in Happy Valley to replace the fired James Franklin.

He was an assistant coach at Pitt, Davidson, Rice, Temple, North Carolina State and Alabama before IUP hired him as head coach in 2011. He guided the Crimson Hawks to a 53-17 record in six seasons, two PSAC West titles and three NCAA Division II playoff berths.

Brohm has a 20-percent chance to become Penn State's next coach, according to Kalshi's latest trading data, which is determined by how many people bought "Yes" positions on his hiring. Fitzgerald, who Northwestern fired in 2023, has a 19-percent chance of taking over at Penn State. Drinkwitz is next at 19 percent.

While those numbers were understandably frustrating for Penn State fans and administrators, ESPN College GameDay star Rece Davis warned recently that things could get worse for the Nittany Lions, depending on their hire.