The last meeting: Penn State 35, Purdue 7 (Oct. 5, 2019) in State College

Here's an early look at Purdue's first opponent in 2022, the Penn State Nittany Lions:

Time: Thursday, Sept. 1, 8:00 P.M. E.T.

Location: Ross-Ade Stadium

Surface: Bermuda Grass

Capacity: 57,236 (tickets available)

2022 schedules/2021 records: Penn State 7-6 (4-5 Big Ten); Purdue 9-4 (6-3)

Series notes: Penn State leads the all-time series 15-3-1 with just two of those meetings coming prior to the Nittany Lions joining the Big Ten in 1993. The Boilermakers have not defeated Penn State since 2004, when Purdue advanced to 5-0 and jumped to No. 5 in the AP Poll after a 20-13 win in Happy Valley. This will only be the second time that Jeff Brohm has taken on Penn State as Purdue's head coach, falling in 35-7 at Beaver Stadium in 2019. Gerad Parker acted as interim head coach the last time Penn State came to Ross-Ade Stadium, leaving with a 62-24 win in October 2016.

TV: FOX

Early line: Penn State -3.5

Fresh off its first nine-win season since 2003, there is plenty of reason for excitement around the Purdue program. After the confetti was all cleaned off the field at Nissan Stadium following Purdue's epic Music City Bowl victory, the excitement for a season-opener at home against a historically-strong conference foe began to build.

That excitement only escalated when FOX elected to move the game to a Thursday night and bring its Big Noon Kickoff pregame show to West Lafayette. This is the second time Purdue has opened at home on a Thursday night in the Jeff Brohm era, having lost 31-27 to Northwestern in the 2018 season opener.

Because of the extra year of eligibility given to players due to COVID-19, both the Boilermakers and Nittany Lions have a sixth-year senior as their starting quarterback for the opener. Aidan O'Connell returns to Purdue after earning second-team all-Big Ten honors in 2021. He started the final nine games for Purdue, throwing for more than 3700 yards and 28 touchdowns for the 2021 season. O'Connell has appeared in 21 games in his Purdue career after coming to West Lafayette as a walk-on ahead of the 2017 season.

Sean Clifford will start his fourth-consecutive season opener for Penn State after battling injuries in 2021. He led the Nittany Lions into the top five of the AP Poll before an injury at Iowa caused his season to go up and down. Clifford has started 33 games in his career, leads Penn State in career completion percentage and is second in touchdown passes in program history.

Though postseason vibes around Purdue and Penn State weren't exactly the same, both Jeff Brohm and James Franklin received contract extensions following the 2021 season. Brohm's new contract extended him through the 2027 season and provided a modest raise following Purdue's first nine-win season in nearly two decades.

Franklin's name was loosely-connected to job vacancies such as Southern Cal, and Penn State responded by signing him to a 10-year, $75 million contract to secure him through the 2031 season. Despite a disappointing finish to the 2021 season, Franklin's future in State College is in little doubt, at least contractually.

Updates will be provided following Jeff Brohm's press conference ahead of the season-opening matchup.

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