Penn State scheduled to open 10-game season Sept. 5 vs. Northwestern

After everything, Penn State is set to open the 2020 season on Sept. 5 at Beaver Stadium, just as it was always planned.

Maybe.

Nearly a month after the Big Ten first announced it would play a conference-only schedule, the league released its full plans for the 2020 season on Wednesday morning.

The Nittany Lions are scheduled to play 10 games, starting with Northwestern on Sept. 5. They will play the nine Big Ten opponents they were originally set to face this season plus an added game at Illinois at the end of the campaign on Nov. 21.

Two open weeks are built into the schedule for all Big Ten teams to allow for flexibility to move games if needed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The same goes for the start of the season, which could be pushed back to Sept. 12, Sept. 19 or Sept. 26 if COVID-19 cases continue to spread through the conference.

Six of the Big Ten’s 14 teams have had some form of interruption of summer workouts because of the virus, with two — Michigan State and Rutgers — shutting down everything entirely to go into quarantine. The Star-Ledger reported Monday that Rutgers had seen its number of positive cases among players double to 28.

All of this is to say that although Penn State finally has a schedule set again, there’s no telling if the games will actually played — a reality that was acknowledged Wednesday morning by new Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren.

“There’s no guarantee that we’ll have fall sports or a football season,” Warren said. “But we’re doing everything we possibly can.”

Penn State was originally set to play its usual three non-conference games, starting with Kent State at home on Sept. 5. That was to be followed by a trip to Virginia Tech on Sept. 12 and a home game vs. San Jose State on Sept. 19 before opening Big Ten play against Northwestern on Sept. 26.

The non-league games were officially canceled on July 9. For now, Northwestern moves into the opening spot, followed by road trips to Indiana (Sept. 12) and Michigan (Sept. 19). The first half closes out at home against Michigan State (Sept. 26) and at Rutgers (Oct. 3) before the first off week.

Play would resume with home games against Maryland (Oct. 17) and Iowa (Oct. 24) before a Halloween trip to Nebraska. That leads into the marquee matchup vs. Ohio State on Nov. 7 at Beaver Stadium, followed by the second open week and a finale at Illinois on Nov. 21.

As for those five home games, Penn State said it would be sending information out to season ticket holders via email on Thursday morning.

The Big Ten is still hoping to hold the Big Ten championship game on Dec. 5 as scheduled with contingency plans to play it on Dec. 12 or Dec. 19 if necessary.

“It would be speculation to say what percent we’ll have a season,” Warren said. “I’m taking it on a day-to-day basis. Hope we can say we did everything to keep our athletes healthy.”

That is the biggest point of contention as Penn State and other schools aim to officially open training camp on Friday.

Shortly after the conference’s schedule announcement, a group of more than 1,000 Big Ten players, including Penn State senior safety Lamont Wade, called for improved safety protocols for the season in a letter posted to The Players Tribune.

“Given that the players are the primary stakeholders in the business of college sports, we believe any course of action moving forward needs to include player input,” the players wrote. “We are deeply disappointed with the lack of leadership demonstrated by the NCAA with respect to player safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We believe that the NCAA must — on its own and through collaboration with the conference — devise a comprehensive plan to ensure the safety and well-being of players leading up to and during the upcoming fall season.”

The players want to ban the signing of any liability waivers for playing during the pandemic and are also looking to receive “coverage for all out-of-pocket medical expenses related to COVID-19.”

The Big Ten letter comes closely on the heels of a similar movement by players in the Pac-12. Unlike the Pac-12 players, however, it does not threaten a player boycott of the season, nor does it seek sweeping economic changes in the sport.

As it stands now, the Big Ten is calling for players in high-contact sports like football to be tested at least twice a week with mandatory 14-day quarantines for those who test positive.

The league laid out its updated protocols on Wednesday.

“Testing will be managed by a third-party laboratory to ensure consistency across the conference,” the league said. “Due to the rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic, the protocols will be updated regularly as new information becomes available and feedback from student-athletes is continuously evaluated.

“Currently required testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as outlined in the testing protocol, is polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Testing frequency is based on the level of contact risk within each sport and is required for student-athletes, as well as coaches and staff depending upon exposure to the student-athletes. Sports that have a high risk of contact will have a minimum of two PCR surveillance tests per week during the competitive season.”