July 21, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Penn State linebacker Mike Hull (Canonsburg) has been selected pre-season first-team All-Big Ten by Athlon Sports, with four additional Nittany Lions on the second-team. Athlon also selected head coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lion coaching staff as the nation's No. 9 coaching staff among the 125 Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
Recognized as one of the team leaders, Hull is ready to add his name to the long line of "Linebacker U." standouts from metropolitan Pittsburgh during the Big Ten era -- including the likes of LaVar Arrington, Sean Lee, Paul Posluszny and Brandon Short. Last season, Hull was second on the team with 78 tackles (44 solo) last year despite missing two full games and most of two others due to injury. He added 4.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, one forced and one recovered fumble.
A candidate for the Butkus Award, Hull ranked fifth in the conference with 9.1 tackles per game in Big Ten play in 2013, making at least nine tackles in six Big Ten games. Hull came up huge on some of the biggest stages, recording 10 tackles, including two tackles for loss on Michigan's final drive of regulation, and an athletic pass breakup, in the four-overtime win over the No. 18 Wolverines. He logged a career-high 13 stops - seven solo - in an overtime victory against Illinois and made a team-best seven tackles in the season finale win at No. 14 Wisconsin.
Hull with join running back Bill Belton (Sicklerville, N.J.) and placekicker Sam Ficken (Valparaiso, Ind.) as Penn State's player representatives at the 43rd Annual Big Ten Kickoff, July 28-29 in Chicago.
Joining Hull on Athlon's all-conference team as second-team selections are: senior safety Adrian Amos (Baltimore), sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg (Palmyra, Va.), junior cornerback Jordan Lucas (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and junior tackle Donovan Smith (Owings Mills, Md.).
Junior tight end Jesse James (Glassport) was named pre-season All-Big Ten by Sporting News, which selected one all-conference team.
Franklin was 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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