No. 18 Penn State vs. Marshall: TV, Radio, Streaming, Announcers and More for Week 1

Penn State ushers in a new era of football Saturday, when the Nittany Lions host Marshall at Beaver Stadium. The 140th season of Penn State football also marks the first for head coach Matt Campbell, who significantly remade the program's roster this offseason.

There's a lot to know about Saturday's game, which also welcomes fans to Phase II of the Beaver Stadium renovation. Check out our Penn State-Marshall predictions here. For everything else you need to know about the game, keep reading.

How to watch, stream the Penn State-Marshall game

Built by tradition. Carried on by generations. We Are. pic.twitter.com/wNDI4srnVR
— Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) September 3, 2026

Game 1 of the Penn State football season kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET at Beaver Stadium. FS1 will televise the game live. The game also can be streamed via Fox One.

Jack Kizer has the play-by-play for FS1, while Mark Herzlich is the color analyst. Penn State appeared on FS1 twice last season, most notably on Oct. 11 in a 22-21 loss to Northwestern. Penn State fired head coach James Franklin the following day.

Penn State-Northwestern radio information

A view of the Nittany Lion weathervane and scoreboard from the new bleachers on the west side of Penn State's Beaver Stadium. | Mark Wogenrich | Penn State on SI

Penn State radio broadcasters Steve Jones and Jack Ham begin their 27th season together on the Penn State Sports Network. The duo first teamed in 2000. Ham, of course, was the first Penn State football player inducted into both the College Football Hall of fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Jones and Ham can be heard live on dozens of radio stations across the region. Their coverage will be simulcast on Sirius XM channels 178 and 231 and on the XM app. The radio broadcast will be available online via the Penn State Sports Network as well. Want to watch Jones and Ham in person? You can buy the experience.

What is the Penn State-Marshall betting line?

An exterior view of the construction of the new West Tower at Penn State's Beaver Stadium. | Mark Wogenrich | Penn State on SI

Penn State is a 23.5-point favorite over the Thundering Herd. The line has moved down one point during pre-game week. The over/under is 52.5 points, a number that also has gone down.

Penn State vs. Marshall series history

Penn State Nittany Lion fans react during the fourth quarter against the Northwestern Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Once upon a time, this might have been a rivalry. However, Penn State and Marshall ended their two-game series nearly a century ago. The teams played a pair of games in 1929 and 1930, both at Penn State.

Penn State won those games by a combined score of 91-7. The Nittany Lions beat Marshall 26-7 in 1929 and 65-0 the following year.

In the rankings

Penn State Nittany Lions running back James Peoples (23) runs with the ball during spring practice at Beaver Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Nittany Lions begin 2026 ranked 18th in the preseason AP Top 25. It's the second-highest preseason ranking for a Campbell-coached team. Penn State also begins the season at No. 17 in ESPN's SP+ rankings. Marshall, at No. 89 in SP+, is the highest-rated non-conference opponent on Penn State's schedule.

About the Nittany Lions

Penn State Nittany Lions football coach Matt Campbell jogs at the start of a practice session inside Holuba Hall. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

After spending eight months explaining how thrilled he is to coach at Penn State, Campbell finally gets to do it. Campbell, who spent 10 years at Iowa State before accepting the Penn State job, then began the biggest roster rebuild in program history.

Penn Stated signed 62 new players accounting for more than 55 percent of the roster. Campbell also retained just one member of Franklin's primary assistant staff: Terry Smith, who stayed as the associate head coach and cornerbacks coach.

Of those 60 newcomers, 40 are transfers, including 24 from Campbell's Iowa State team of last season. At least 10 of those former Cyclones likely will start for the Nittany Lions against Marshall.

The most important transfers on offense are quarterback Rocco Becht, entering his fourth season as a starter, and tight end Ben Brahmer, his top target for touchdowns last season at Iowa State. Campbell also brought four receivers, led by Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen, and starting running back Carson Hansen.

Defensively, former Iowa State safeties Jeremiah Cooper and Marcus Neal Jr. lead the transfers, along with linebacker Kooper Ebel. Cooper, who returned to practice in August after completing his ACL rehab, is probable for the opener. One key returning Nittany Lion is linebacker Tony Rojas, who missed nine games last year with a torn ACL.

About the Marshall Thundering Herd

Marshall coach Tony Gibson questions a call on the sidelines during MTSU's Homecoming football game. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Marshall was picked third in the Sun Belt Conference East preseason poll after going 5-7. The Thundering Herd feature perhaps the conference's best quarterback in Carlos Del-Rio Wilson, who threw for 2,043 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushed for 660 yards and six more scores last season.

Del-Rio Wilson was one of just two quarterbacks (with Auburn's Byrum Brown) to throw for 2,000+ yards, run for 600+ and complete 65 percent of his passes last season. He's the type of dual-threat quarterback who nagged Penn State last season, something Nitany Lions defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn seeks to pinch.

Marshall also found itself adjacent to an NCAA lawsuit this offseason, as multiple former players sued to get another year of eligibility under the new "five-for-five" rule. Among them was cornerback Boogie Trotter, who initially had his eligibility reinstated and would have been Marshall's top defensive player.

However, a U.S. District Court judge denied their injunction, likely making Trottter ineligible for the game.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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