Here’s the thing about Northwestern’s new Ryan Field that stands out the most, aside from the gaudy $875 million price tag and the still-very-real question of whether or not even a spectacular football stadium will make die-hard Wildcats fans out of a larger slice of the local sports-fan populace:
Holy mother of purple, are the paying customers (not to mention the 3,000-plus undergraduates getting into games for no extra charge on top of the wheelbarrows of gold required to attend the school) ever going to be right on top of the action.
Penn State (-3) at Northwestern (7 p.m. Friday, Fox 32 ,720-AM) is what we in the business like to call a football matchup, and a good one at that. But the details of what unfolds in between the lines will be a secondary story to the spectacle of opening night in the new digs, which happens to come on the 100th anniversary of the inauguration of the old joint.
Dyche Stadium, later renamed Ryan Field, was the worst stadium in the Big Ten, and that might be one of the kindest things one could say about it.
Oh, how different this is going to be.
“I would say it’s the best stadium in the world,” coach David Braun said this week.
The key to the whole operation, again, is going to be the proximity of fans to the field in a venue that seats only 35,000 but is designed to get extra-loud. From the nearest seats, the sideline will be a mere 48 feet away. From the farthest ones, the sideline will be 136 feet away. If you’re having trouble picturing what that looks like, just consider this — at Michigan Stadium, the mother of all football colossuses with a capacity of over 107,000, the nearest or best seats are 235 feet from the sideline.
You want to kiss a ref? This might be your best shot.
Wildcats fans should have a real chance to impact games, even if for some of them it means having to learn to go a little crazier on Saturdays than they’re accustomed to.
“Let’s go,” Braun said. “Let’s turn this into the best home-field advantage in college football.”
Now, can we talk about the game itself just a little?
If you watched the Wildcats throttle Colorado 41-7 in the final game at the lakefront pop-up venue and then go to defending national champ Indiana and hang in there in a 29-23 defeat, you’ve realized by now this is a good team. You’ve noted the poise, skill and overall excellent play of transfer quarterback Aidan Chiles and the fact he has one of the Big Ten’s best targets in Griffin Wilde. You’ve seen safety Robert Fitzgerald and linebacker Kobe McKinzie tackle everything that isn’t nailed down.
And you’ve come to accept that Braun — a virtual unknown when he took over for Pat Fitzgerald in 2023 amid a hazing scandal — has been a more-than-able replacement. These days, he and White Sox general manager Chris Getz, who is succeeding despite his own 2023 appointment having been widely panned, remind me of each other. In my imagination, they’ll gather soon enough over a couple of cold ones as long-lost friends. Or not. Somebody rein me in here.
Penn State blew a 17-point lead and lost to Wisconsin last week at Beaver Stadium, which seats over 106,000 and ranks right behind Michigan Stadium in that category. The Nittany Lions have a formidable QB-receiver combo themselves in Rocco Becht and Kobe Howard, a strong running game and, of course, a brand name that can never be overlooked. If there were a classic Penn State pass rush to go with it, the collapse against Wisconsin and ensuing tumble out of the Top 25 wouldn’t have happened.
But here comes another idle thought: Maybe Northwestern can let the Bears’ bigwigs run around on the field at halftime just for a little new-stadium inspiration?
I’m picking a Wildcats upset, 23-21. Some kind of night, that’ll make it.
OTHER WEEK 3 PICKS
All games are Saturday.
No. 3 Notre Dame (-21½) at North Carolina (11 a.m., ESPN, 780-AM): If not for a seemingly endless weather delay that sabotaged North Carolina at Clemson, the Tar Heels would be 3-0, media would be buzzing about Bill Belichick and there’s no way the spread would be this huge. Yeah, well. Irish, 34-17.
No. 5 Ohio State (-14½) at No. 14 Iowa (2:30 p.m., CBS 2): No, Iowa isn’t going to win at Michigan and shock the mighty Buckeyes back-to-back. Just stop already. OSU, 27-16.
No. 8 Florida (-5½) at No. 25 Missouri (2:30 p.m., ABC 7): There’s being good again, and then there’s being good enough to consistently win SEC games on the road again. Are the Gators really there yet? Tigers by a field goal.
My favorite favorite: No. 7 Alabama (-5½) at No. 16 Mississippi State (11 a.m., ABC 7): The whole world is talking about Bulldogs QB Kamario Taylor, who has been electric. Do you know how many times in the last 12 years MSU has won a game in which both teams were ranked, though? Try once. OK, so it was last week against Missouri, but still. Rammer Jammer, I’ve got Bammer by a touchdown.
My favorite underdog: Purdue (+10½) at Illinois (3:15 p.m., BTN): Have the Boilermakers considered playing their home games in Champaign? They won seven in a row at Memorial Stadium before losing in overtime there in 2024. Some rivalries are just weird like that. Illini win but fail to cover.
Last week: 7-1 straight-up, 4-4 against the spread.
Season to date: 22-8 straight-up, 13-17 against the spread.
