It’ll be Nits over Nix come Saturday night, just like it was a quarter-century ago.

No. 10 Penn State will take down No. 22 Auburn in this season’s White Out game, with ESPN’s College GameDay crew there to see it.

Auburn hasn’t visited a Big Ten venue in the regular season in 90 years, and the Tigers have never been to Beaver Stadium before. They’re not ready. New coach Bryan Harsin and his team have proven nothing to themselves or anyone else from beating down Akron and Alabama State to the combined tune of 122-10 while never leaving the friendly confines of Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Auburn’s reality check comes 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday. It’s not going to go well for the Tigers. Here’s why:

Bo knows road woes?

Since Bo Nix took the reins of Auburn’s offense as a true freshman in 2019, the Tigers are 4-7 away from Jordan-Hare Stadium, including 1-6 against ranked teams and 0-4 against top 10 programs.

While that could be a statement about the Tigers overall, their quarterback shoulders at least some of the blame. He’s played mediocre at best in most of those contests. His road numbers are “cringe-worthy,” according to our sister site Saturday Down South.

And Saturday night won’t be just any road game. He’ll be dealing with 105,000-plus Nit wits, a blinding White Out, a deafening roar and the hype surrounding ESPN’s College GameDay. He’ll even have some family history working against him. Penn State has 1 win in 2 tries against Auburn, a 43-14 victory in the 1996 Outback Bowl. Patrick Nix, Bo’s dad, was the losing quarterback in that one.

Now, if Auburn’s original Bo were making the trip, maybe Lions fans would be worried.

Zero turnovers

In a complete turnaround from last season’s 0-5 start, Penn State has a +5 turnover margin and hasn’t given the ball away a single time through 2 games this year. In fact, in its 6-game winning streak, PSU has had more than 1 turnover in a game only once. Sean Clifford has thrown only 1 INT in that stretch, and none in his last 115 attempts over 4-plus games.

Auburn is not facing the unranked Penn State team that finished 112th in turnover differential per game a season ago. The Nittany Lions are top 10 in the AP Poll and in turnover margin. The Tigers, meanwhile, are tied for 43rd in turnover margin at +1, not impressive at all considering the palookas they’ve played.

Stout kicking

Okay, his place-kicking has been a bit shaky since he took on full-time duty to start this season, but Jordan Stout flips the field.

If you need any indication how much impact one powerful right leg can make, consider this: Stout’s booming punts and kickoffs were so key to Penn State’s opening victory at Wisconsin that the Big Ten named him its Special Teams Player of the Week — even though he missed a PAT and a short field goal in a 16-10 game. Now, perhaps some folks at the Big Ten didn’t get the word that Jake Pinegar was no longer the Lions’ short-range kicker. But maybe they did. Penn State’s defense probably needed every yard Stout gave them to thwart Badgers’ drives again and again in the Week 1 upset.

If trends continue, Nix and Auburn star RB Tank Bigsby won’t be getting any short fields.

Franklin feeling frisky

James Franklin delivered some good-humored sarcasm in his post-Ball State media session.

Responding to a reporter’s question about Clifford going under center  a few times, Franklin had some fun with his answer.

While I’ll tell you I think it’s a good thing the OC Mike Yurcich has added that wrinkle to an attack that has been shotgun-only for most of the Franklin era, I’ll also tell you it’s good to see the 8th-year head coach back to his chipper self after a challenging year on and off the field in 2020.

“I thought that when we ran the quarterback sneak from under center, I thought the stadium would erupt,” Franklin said. “But everybody’s moved on. Everybody’s moved on except for you.” That’s a taste of Franklin’s answer. To get the full quote and full effect, you have to watch the clip below.

Coach is feeling good.

Rested, tested, won’t be bested

After serving a targeting suspension in the first half and playing sparingly in the second against Ball State, linebacker Ellis Brooks is well rested. The same can be said of safety Jaquan Brisker and other key defensive players who were on the field for the bulk of Penn State’s 95 defensive downs against Wisconsin.

“There’s tremendous value to saving some reps off our guys,” Franklin said following Saturday’s 44-13 victory over Ball State, “especially on the defensive side of the ball. … Our rep count was way too high last week at Wisconsin.”

Penn State enters White Out Saturday night refreshed physically and carrying confidence and probably even a little hard-earned swagger. The Lions know they held up, persevered and prevailed in a war of a game in Madison. The Tigers under former Boise State coach Harsin know that cupcakes taste good, and not much more about themselves as they leave home for the first time.