It already was looming as a massive test for Michigan State, playing host to No. 8 Washington after opening their season with two wins against unranked opponents.
Now Saturday’s game (5 p.m. ET, exclusively on Peacock) also has been shrouded by controversy as Spartans secondary coach Harlon Barnett will take the reins as acting head coach from Mel Tucker, who was suspended without pay by the school after sexual assault allegations emerged Sunday. Tucker, who has denied the allegations, will take part in an Oct. 5-6 hearing to determine if he violated Michigan State policy.
Barnett will have veteran help on the sidelines as the Spartans play the No. 8 Huskies in East Lansing for the first time in 54 years.
Mark Dantonio, who led Michigan State to a school-record 114 victories and three Big Ten championships from 2007-19, is coming out of retirement as the Spartans associate head coach to offer wisdom. Barnett has been a Michigan State assistant for 15 seasons (including 10 with Dantonio) but had no prior head coaching experience before being named in the acting role.
It’s a similar situation to Northwestern’s David Braun, who had no head coaching experience before being thrust into the interim role in July after longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald’s firing in a hazing scandal (the Wildcats added head coaching veteran Skip Holtz to assist Braun, who had been hired as defensive coordinator in January). There already have been six interim coaches in the Big Ten this season — Barnett, Braun and four Michigan assistants who have shared filling the void left by a self-imposed three-game suspension on Jim Harbaugh for alleged NCAA recruiting violations from 2020.
“I always wanted to be the head coach at Michigan State but not in this way, obviously,” Barnett said.
His debut won’t be easy, either – the Huskies scored a 38-29 upset of the Spartans (who were then No. 11) last year in Seattle, and they enter as clear road favorites this year behind a sixth-year quarterback who will be familiar to Big Ten fans.
Michael Penix Jr. has become a Heisman hopeful in two seasons as a starter at Washington, where he transferred after four injury-plagued seasons with Indiana. He’s been healthy with the Huskies, throwing for 859 yards and eight touchdowns in their 2-0 start while raising first-round draft pick expectations. Penix also was strong against Michigan State while with Indiana, going 2-1 and passing for 10 TDs and more than 1,000 combined yards against the Spartans.
Michigan State can counter with redshirt junior quarterback Noah Kim, the Big Ten’s offensive player of the week after tossing a career-high 292 yards and three TDs in a 45-14 victory over Richmond.
More in Week 3 of NBC Sports’ College Football Storyline Watch:
SEC gets started
Though the heavyweights won’t be squaring off yet, the Southeastern Conference will open play with three ranked teams.
Top-ranked defending national champion Georgia will play host to South Carolina (the last opponent to win in Sanford Stadium when the Gamecocks stunned the No. 3 Bulldogs in 2019). No. 14 Louisiana State will travel to Mississippi State after rebounding with a 72-10 pounding of Grambling after its second consecutive season-opening loss (45-24 to Florida State) under coach Brian Kelly.
No. 11 Tennessee could face a tough Saturday night in “The Swamp” against Florida. Though the Gators are unranked after losing their road opener to Utah, quarterback Graham Mertz (a Wisconsin transfer) has looked sharp, and history is against the Volunteers. Florida has won four of their past 20 meetings, and its last home defeat to Tennessee was in 2003.
Penn State’s road test
While many ranked teams will be tuning up before conference play begins in earnest, No. 7 Penn State’s Big Ten schedule will open on the road against an Illinois team that is reeling from a 34-23 defeat to Kansas.
Though the Illini lost some major talent to the NFL, their defensive line still was expected to remain a strength – but puzzlingly put up a porous performance against the Jayhawks (who rushed for 262 yards while jumping to a 21-0 lead).
It likely will get no easier against Penn State, whose offense is rolling behind sophomore QB Drew Allar (5 TDs, 0 INTs), outscoring Delaware and West Virginia 101-22 in its first two games. The Nittany Lions also have the motivation to avenge their last meeting with the Illini – a bizarre 20-18 loss that went nine overtimes to mark the longest game in NCAA history.
Sam Hartman making surprise Heisman bid?
Notre Dame seems a cinch to continue its 2023 turnaround at home against an inexperienced Central Michigan (which has only four returning starters on offense).
It could be another showcase for quarterback Sam Hartman, who is establishing himself as a Heisman dark horse. The Wake Forest transfer has thrown for 731 yards and 10 touchdowns despite sitting for nearly three quarters of the Fighting Irish’s 3-0 start.
Hartman trails only 2022 Heisman winner Caleb Williams (12) nationally in passing TDs and efficiency. If Heisman voters are considering career achievement as ballot criteria, Hartman leads all active FBS quarterbacks in passing touchdowns (120, ranking 10th all time) and yards (13,698, 12th all time and in range of moving into the top five).
Other key Week 3 college football matchups
--The first-ever meeting of Minnesota and No. 20 North Carolina will be a battle of unbeatens in Chapel Hill, N.C. Both teams are 2-0 and have survived nail-biters already this season (Minnesota over Nebraska 13-10 on a last-second field goal; UNC in a 40-34 win over Appalachian State in 2 OTs).
--After its winning streaks of 21 games in Tuscaloosa and 57 games against nonconference opponents in the regular season were snapped in a 34-24 upset loss to Texas, No. 10 Alabama’s get-well tour begins in Tampa against South Florida (whose last win over a ranked team was seven years ago).
--"Coach Prime” will be dialing up the state pride as Colorado will play at home against Colorado State before a key stretch for Deion Sanders’ team against No. 13 Oregon and No. 5 USC.
B1G Saturday night
The featured NBC game is a rematch of a 2022 barnburner: a wild 32-29 victory for Syracuse at home over Purdue.
The teams will meet this year at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, with the spotlight on the Boilermakers’ Ryan Walters – the Big Ten’s youngest coach at 37. Walters was anointed a defensive whiz as an Illinois assistant, but Purdue ceded 39 points to Fresno State in a season-opening loss. The Boilermakers have had no trouble scoring points so far, racking up 59 points behind Texas transfer Hudson Card’s 502 passing yards.
Syracuse also has a steady hand at QB with senior Garrett Shrader, who has thrown well since offseason elbow surgery and now has played for five offensive coordinators in five seasons (and also avoided a switch to wide receiver after two seasons at Mississippi State).
How to watch Syracuse vs. Purdue: Time, TV/live stream, key storylines for Week 3 matchup
There also is a Boilermakers connection for Syracuse coach Dino Babers (who is in his eighth season with the Orange). He coached Purdue’s wide receivers from 1991-93.
Read more here for why this game will be a critical test for Purdue before a stretch of nine consecutive conference games.
How to watch Big Ten football on NBC and Peacock this weekend
This week’s featured games are Syracuse at Purdue (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC and Peacock) and Washington at Michigan State (5 p.m. ET, streamed exclusively on Peacock).
Information for how to sign up for Peacock is available here. Peacock is available for streaming on several devices (view the full list of supported devices here).
Below is the announced remaining schedule for Big Ten on NBC Sports; more NBC Sports games will be announced during the season.
NBC Sports’ Big Ten Football and primetime games announced to date:
| Sat., Sept. 16 | 5:00 p.m. | Washington at Michigan State | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 16 | 7:30 p.m. | Syracuse at Purdue | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 23 | 3:30 p.m. | Maryland at Michigan State | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 23 | 7:30 p.m. | Ohio State at Notre Dame | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Oct. 14 | 7:30 p.m. | USC at Notre Dame | NBC,Peacock |
| Sat., Nov. 11 | 7:30 p.m. | Michigan State at Ohio State | NBC,Peacock |
| Fri., Nov. 24 | 7:30 p.m. | Penn State at Michigan State (Ford Field) | NBC,Peacock |
