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Northwestern's New Stadium
to Open with Penn State Game
Northwestern
announced on Tuesday that the new Ryan Field will not open in time for
the football team's first home game of the season. The decision had
been expected since last week, when NU posted on Twitter that an
announcement on "2026 Home Venue Info" would be forthcoming.
Northwestern's February 3 announcement also broke the news that the
Penn State game, originally slated for October 3, has been moved to
Friday night, October 2:
Even before NU hinted last week that the new stadium would not be ready
for the start of the season, there were signs that the Wildcats would
likely need to split their home schedule between the new Ryan Field and
Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. As early as last spring,
when the school was still clearing boulders from the stadium's
foundation, officials revealed that crews would likely still be
"screwing in the last light bulbs" on September 11, 2026, which is the
day before NU was supposed to play its first home game, against South
Dakota State.
Of course, that game was ultimately pushed up a week, to September 5;
even if NU's construction remained on its piano-wire tight schedule, it
would likely not be set for so early an opener. The school (...or the
Big Ten-- who can tell?) padded the opener by slotting the team's bye
week at week two, by far the earliest bye week position in the
conference. Even this move, however, would ultimately not allow NU to
have a stadium ready for its second game (a non-conference match
against Colorado).
The stadium's Friday night debut, assuming the schedule is not modified
again, means that we are guaranteed a nighttime spectacle the first
time we see action at the new Ryan Field. It should be an interesting
show.
So, the home schedule now appears to be thus:
- Saturday, Sept. 5: S. Dakota State at Martin
- Saturday, Sept. 19: Colorado at Martin
- FRIDAY, OCT 2: PENN ST. AT NEW RYAN FIELD
- Saturday, Oct. 10: Ball State at Ryan (Homecoming)
- Saturday, Oct. 24: Rutgers at Ryan
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Iowa at Ryan
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Illinois at Ryan
Also,
as mentioned on the list above, Northwestern's homecoming game will be
against Ball State. This will be the third game in the last four
seasons that the Wildcats have played a non-conference opponent for
homecoming. Before this decade, NU had played a homecoming opponent
from outside the Big Ten only once in the program's history.
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