July 17, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; July 17, 2014 -Penn State today announced future home football games with Georgia State and Kent State and a new date for the 2017 game with Pitt in Beaver Stadium.
Penn State and Georgia State will meet for the first time on Sept. 16, 2017. The Panthers are members of the Sun Belt Conference. The contest against Georgia State completes the Nittany Lions' 2017 schedule, which will feature nine Big Ten games.
The Nittany Lions' previously announced 2017 contest vs. Pitt will be played on Sept. 9 in Beaver Stadium. Long-time rivals Penn State and Pitt will meet every season from 2016-19, with the Big Ten's nine-game conference schedule starting in 2016. The Nittany Lions will play in Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2018 and the Panthers will play in State College in 2017 and 2019.
The Nittany Lions will host Kent State on September 15, 2018. The Nittany Lions have won the four previous meetings with the Golden Flashes of the Mid-American Conference. The teams also are scheduled to meet on Sept. 2, 2016 in Happy Valley.
Penn State's 2016 and '17 schedules are complete. The Nittany Lions have one non-conference opponent to schedule for the 2015 and 2018 campaigns.
In addition to the Pitt series, Penn State is scheduled to play Virginia Tech for the first time in 2022 (away) and 2023 (home) and renew its rivalry with West Virginia in 2023 (home) and 2024 (away). The Nittany Lions also are scheduled to play Temple each of the next three seasons, including hosting the Owls on Nov. 15 for Military Appreciation Day.
James Franklinwas named Penn State's 16th head football coach on January 11. A product of Langhorne, Pa., Franklin led Vanderbilt University to unprecedented success the past three years as head coach, including consecutive nine-win seasons and bowl victories the past two years, as well as back-to-back Top 25 finishes, all for the first time in Vanderbilt history. In his 20th year of coaching, Franklin was a two-time All-PSAC quarterback at East Stroudsburg University and set or tied 23 school records.
More than 5,000 new Penn State football season tickets have been sold for the 2014 campaign. There again was no increase in season tickets prices for Penn State football for the upcoming season.
Alumni and fans are able to purchase Penn State football season tickets and make their Nittany Lion Club donation online at GoPSUsports.com/seasontickets, while choosing their own seats by utilizing Virtual Venue. New season tickets also are available by calling 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
A new Penn State football partial season ticket plan is now on sale for the Akron, Ohio State, Maryland and Michigan State games and represents a nearly five percent savings from the single game prices. The partial season ticket plans are available only by calling 1-800-NITTANY.
Alumni and fans also are able to choose their own football single game seats online by utilizing the Ticketmaster Interactive Seat Map. Single game tickets are available at www.PSUnrivaled.com, by calling 1-800-NITTANY or visiting the Bryce Jordan Center Box Office.
Public single game tickets are not available for the Oct. 25 primetime clash with Ohio State, which is a Penn State White Out game. Single game tickets for the 8 p.m. contest vs. the Buckeyes are available exclusively to Nittany Lion Club members via the NLC member sale or with the purchase of new season or partial season ticket plans.
The Recent Graduate ticket program gives Penn State graduates who earned an undergraduate degree from 2010-14 at any campus the opportunity to purchase up to two season tickets for $300 per ticket for the seven-game home schedule this fall. The cost includes a $50 donation to the Nittany Lion Club and is a savings of 35 percent from the regular $460 season ticket price ($360 + $100 NLC donation). More than 700 Recent Graduate program season tickets have been sold. Interested recent graduates can call 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Penn State returns 40 letterwinners and 15 starters (7 offense, 7 defense, 1 specialist) for the upcoming season and will play a trio of 2013 Top 10 teams this fall. The Nittany Lions will host Rose Bowl Champion Michigan State (Nov. 29), Ohio State (Oct. 25, 8 p.m.), Northwestern (Sept. 27-Homecoming, 12 p.m.) and Maryland (Nov. 1) during its 2014 Big Ten home schedule. Penn State will host Akron (Sept. 6, 12 p.m.), UMass (Sept. 20) and Temple (Nov. 15) during its non-conference slate.
The Nittany Lions open the season Aug. 30 vs. UCF in the Croke Park Classic in Dublin, Ireland.
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