Penn State Football: 3 reasons Nittany Lions will beat Auburn in Week 3

A highly anticipated showdown will kick off Saturday night in Happy Valley as Penn State football hosts Auburn. ESPN’s College GameDay will set up camp in State College this weekend so you know it’s a big one for both teams.

These two schools do not have a storied history with each team owning one victory in the series. Penn State dominated the first matchup 43-14 in the 1996 Outback Bowl. Seven years later Auburn topped Penn State 13-9 in the 2003 Capital One Bowl.

What makes this game even better is that it is a regular-season matchup on campus instead of a neutral site. Penn State will return the favor next season when they visit Auburn.

Per Matt Brown from The Athletic, this game will mark Auburn’s first road trip to a Big Ten school since visiting Wisconsin in 1931. It is also the Tigers’ furthest trip north since traveling to Syracuse in 2001. Finally, this is only the third time a ranked SEC team has visited a ranked Big Ten team, with 2011 Alabama at Penn State and 1965 Georgia at Michigan being the other two games.

Needless to say, this is a rare matchup and one of the things that makes college football so special. The buzz in Happy Valley has been building since this two-game series was announced five years ago. We know Penn State fans will pack Beaver Stadium but hopefully a good contingent of Auburn fans will take in the experience as well.

With both teams off to 2-0 starts, the expectations from their fanbases are still pretty high. Let’s take a look at three reasons why Penn State will come out victorious Saturday night.