The introduction to the most highly-hyped Penn State football season in decades commences Saturday in renovating Beaver Stadium.
Call this game against the Nevada Wolf Pack, and the two follow-up matinees, what you will.
Nevada -- as will Florida International and Villanova -- will show up as a six-touchdown underdog and provide a smooth platform for building chemistry and assimilating new starters and coaches to a team being picked to not only win the Big Ten, but challenge for the national title.
There should be so much to highlight, from senior quarterback Drew Allar throwing to those new receivers, to a pair of record-breaking running backs to an expected Top 10 defense led by the highest-paid coordinator in college football history.
Ultimately, though, Saturday's value for coach James Franklin and his Nittany Lions should be analyzed in the simplest terms:
The first in a series of building-block exercises to prepare for what lies ahead.
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Expect Penn State's elite starters to do whatever they desire against a cross-country opponent coming off a dismal 3-10 season.
The best bet is that Allar and his fellow All-America candidates won't be playing much, if at all, by halftime. Substitutions should flow freely for a team that must grade its youngest players as as quickly as possible.
Penn State should set a rapid offensive tempo with the running of Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen and the receiving of transfer wideouts like Trebor Pena and Kyron Hudson -- all behind what should be one of the top offensive lines in college football.
Good luck to most opponents in Beaver Stadium, no less these Wolf Pack that second-year head coach Jeff Choate is overhauling with scores of new players.
Nevada's headliner is quarterback Chubba Purdy, the former high-profile recruit and transfer, via Nebraska and Florida State. Can he possibly keep the Lions' fast and furious defense scrambling, at least for a while, early on?
The biggest challenge, though, may be keeping up with the Lions' continuous rotation of players on both sides of the ball. How many tight ends could catch a pass Saturday, for instance? One of the deepest rooms in the nation will surely play more than its top-three of Khalil Dinkins, Luke Reynolds and Andrew Rappleyea.
Penn State 55, Nevada 7
Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.