Penn State-UCF Games Notes

Aug. 25, 2014

PENN STATE VS. UCF
Saturday, Aug. 30 - 9:30 a.m. ET
Croke Park | Dublin, Ireland
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Game Notes: Penn State | UCF

2013 Statistics: Penn State | UCF

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
PSU		UCF
28.7	Scoring*	34.6
22.5	1st Downs*	22.3
174.0	Rushing*	159.9
259.2	Passing*	281.6
433.2	Total Offense*	441.5
21/12	Fumbles/Lost	20/10
55/403	Penalties/Yards	62/541
55/37.9	Punts/Avg,	43/39.9
34%	3rd Down %	49%
54%	4th Down %	38%
28	Sacks by	29
13	Interceptions	14
41-50	Red Zone	58-67
30:00	Time of Possession	32:12

* - Per Game Statistics | All Statistics from 2013 Season

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A number of firsts will take place when Penn State travels to Dublin, Ireland to face UCF in the Croke Park Classic on Saturday, Aug. 30 at 8:30 a.m. ET. It will be the beginning of the James Franklin era and mark the first international contest in Penn State's 128-year football history.

This will be the fourth meeting between the Nittany Lions and Knights on the football field, with Penn State looking to reverse last season's 34-31 loss at Beaver Stadium. Penn State claimed the first two on-field meetings with UCF in 2002 and 2004.

The Blue and White enter the 2014 season opener with seven returning starters on both offense and defense. Sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg will look to add to his impressive freshman campaign that saw him throw for 2,955 yards and 20 touchdowns. A talented running back corps returns in seniors Bill Belton and Zach Zwinak, along with sophomore Akeel Lynch, and a deep and athletic tight end corps will look to help a youthful, but gifted, wide receivers unit that will need to replace two-time Big Ten Receiver of the Year Allen Robinson, who was a second round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Senior linebacker Mike Hull will captain an experienced defense from the middle linebacker post after ranking second on the team with 78 tackles last season. Adrian Amos and Jordan Lucas return to lead the secondary, while C.J. Olaniyan and Deion Barnes are just two members of a talented and tenacious defensive front.

UCF also returns the bulk of its roster for 2014, but will have to replace quarterback Blake Bortles, who was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and NFL-bound running back Storm Johnson and a trio of offensive linemen. The Knights posted a 12-1 overall mark in 2013 and defeated Baylor, 52-42, in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl to earn their first AP top-10 finish in school history (No. 10).

The Knights return a talented corps of wide receivers return, led by Ranell Hall, J.J. Worton and Breshad Perriman. The trio combined for 143 catches, over 2,400 yards and 16 touchdowns. Running the offense will be redshirt freshman Pete DiNovo, who was named the starter midway through fall camp by head coach George O'Leary.

Penn State departs late Tuesday evening and returns Saturday evening. The Nittany Lions will practice at University College Dublin.

GAME ONE - NEWS AND NOTES

UCF Head Coach George O'Leary
George O'Leary is in his 18th season as a head coach and his 11th season as the leader of the UCF program. He owns a career record of 124-89 and is 72-56 as head coach of the Knights.

O'Leary was the head coach at Georgia Tech from 1994-2001, where he led the Yellow Jackets to five straight bowl game appearances. He took the head job at UCF in 2004. He helped Tech earn the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship in 1998.

Last season, O'Leary guided UCF to new heights with a school record 12 wins - seven coming away from Orlando - and a nine-game winning streak which is still active heading into 2014. UCF was undefeated in conference play for the first time (8-0) en route to the outright AAC title.

The 2013 squad posted UCF's first two wins over top-10 teams (No. 8/6 Louisville and No. 6/5 Baylor) captured the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl with a 52-42 triumph over Big 12 champion Baylor. The Fiesta Bowl win helped O'Leary's program grab their first top-10 ranking by placing 10th in the final AP Top 25 Poll.

Prior to joining the AAC, O'Leary helped UCF to the Conference USA East Division Championship four times. The Knights also won the Conference USA Championship Game twice (2007, 2010).

Scouting the Knights
UCF may have lost starting quarterback Blake Bortles and running back Storm Johnson, but they return 49 letterwinners and 15 starters (9 Defense, 6 Offense) from a squad that went 12-1 and won the Fiesta Bowl.

The offense was hit hardest with departures after 2013, with Bortles, Johnson and a trio of offensive linemen off to the NFL, but a talented corps of wide receivers return, led by Ranell Hall, J.J. Worton and Breshad Perriman. The trio combined for 143 catches, over 2,400 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Sophomore William Stanback will lead the rushing attack in to 2014 after gaining 443 yards on 105 carries (4.2 ypc) and six scores.

Running the offense will be redshirt freshman Pete DiNovo, who was named the starter midway through fall camp by head coach George O'Leary. DiNovo hasn't thrown a pass for the Knights, but was the Scout Team Player of the Year in 2013 and the 2012 Tampa Bay Times Suncoast Player of the Year as a senior at East Lake High School.

The defense returns nearly all of the major players from last season's 12-1 squad, including the top two tackles on the squad in linebacker Terrance Plummer (110 tkls) and safety Clayton Geathers (100 tkls).

Placekicker and leading scorer Shawn Moffitt is back in 2014 and will look to build off of a season that saw him set a single season school record by hitting 91-percent of his field goal tries. He was 21-of-23 on field goals and hit all 49 of his extra point tries to total 112 points.

Last Meeting
The two teams met at Beaver Stadium for the third time in the short history of the series, but UCF's 34-31 victory over Penn State was not short on memorable moments.

Penn State trailed 21-10 at halftime and entered the fourth quarter behind 31-17 before mounting a comeback that fell just short.

Zach Zwinak piled up 147 all-purpose yards and scored three rushing touchdowns and quarterback Christian Hackenberg was 21-of-28 passing for 262 yards and a touchdown, but it wasn't enough in Penn State's first loss of the season.

Of Hackenberg's passing totals, 143 of those yards came on nine catches by Allen Robinson. The duo also connected on a touchdown with 2:51 left in the game to pull the score within a field goal at 34-31, but the Knights ran the clock out behind a strong rushing performance from Storm Johnson.

Johnson ended the game with 117 yards rushing, including a 58-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Blake Bortles threw for three scores and totaled 288 passing yards.

First Time Travelers
Although many of the players on the Penn State football team have done their fair share of traveling, this will be the first time that a major portion of the squad will travel outside of North America.

Approximately 85-percent of the players that comprise the Nittany Lions' roster will be making their first trip outside of North America when the team plane departs for Dublin, Ireland and the Croke Park Classic.

PSU-UCF Coaching Connections

• Penn State offensive coordinator/tight ends coach John Donovan worked with UCF head coach George O'Leary for three years at Georgia Tech as an offensive graduate assistant from 1998-2000. Donovan also worked with former Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien while on O'Leary's staff at Georgia Tech.
• During that time, the Yellow Jackets made three straight bowl appearances and claimed a share of the 1998 ACC championship with a 10-2 overall record.
• Penn State head coach James Franklin and Donovan both worked with UCF offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Charlie Taaffe while at Maryland from 2001-04. Taaffe served as the OC/QB coach, while Franklin coached the Terrapins wide receivers. Donovan was the programs recruiting coordinator.
• Josh Gattis will look across the field at two familiar faces, in UCF special teams coach Mike Buscemi and tight ends coach Allen Mogridge. While Gattis was an offensive graduate assistant and wide receivers coach at North Carolina in 2010 he worked with Buscemi (offensive quality control) and Mogridge (tight ends/recruiting coordinator).
• Terry Smith also worked with Mogridge, with the two serving on the offensive staff at Temple in 2013. Smith coached the wide receivers and Mogridge tutored the offensive line for the Owls.

Across the Pond for Season-Opener
Penn State will play its first international game since the program's 1887 inception when it opens the season against UCF in the Croke Park Classic on August 30 in Dublin, Ireland. The contest will be played at Croke Park, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), and will have a capacity of 69,000 for the contest.

UCF also will be playing in its first international game. The Knights were 12-1 last season, defeating Baylor in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, and finishing No. 10 in the final Associated Press poll.

The Penn State-UCF contest will be the eighth American college football game held in Ireland. The last American football game hosted in Croke Park was in 1996 when Notre Dame played Navy. The Irish and Middies played in Dublin's Aviva Stadium to open the 2012 season.

Penn State will be the first Big Ten Conference team to play internationally since Michigan State and Wisconsin met in Tokyo in the 1993 regular-season finale.

2013 Coin Toss Commemorated Croke Park Classic
When Penn State hosted UCF at Beaver Stadium in 2012, officials from Ireland's Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and Croke Park Stadium attended the contest to continue their planning for the 2014 Croke Park Classic between the two schools.

Among the dignitaries visiting Happy Valley were Páraic Duffy, GAA Director General and Dan Rooney, the Pittsburgh Steelers' team chairman and former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. Duffy and Rooney participated in pregame the coin toss.

The winning team in the Croke Park Classic will earn the Dan Rooney Trophy. The Dan Rooney Trophy is a replica football made of bog yew and Pittsburgh steel. The yew comes from what remains of forests which grew six to seven thousand years ago and lie deep in the Irish midlands.

The steel is from Heinz Field, home of the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers.

College Football on the Emerald Isle
When Penn State and UCF land in at Dublin Airport, they will begin preparations for the eighth college football game ever played in Ireland.

• This will mark the eighth overall college football game played in Ireland, with five of them taking place in Dublin (*), one in Galway (#) and one in Limerick (^).
• This will be the second college football contest played in Croke Park Stadium. The first came in 1996 when Notre Dame defeated Navy, 54-37, in front of 38,651 fans. That game was called the Shamrock Classic.
• Five of the eight games featured teams from the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Two match-ups of Division III opponents and one between team's from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) have also been played on the Emerald Isle.

1988 - Boston College 38, Army 24 - Lansdowne Road *
1989 - Pitt 46, Rutgers 29 - Lansdowne Road *
1991 - Holy Cross 24, Fordham 19 - Gaelic Grounds ^
1992 - Bowdoin 7, Tufts 6 - Pearse Stadium #
1996 - Notre Dame 54, Navy 27 - Croke Park *
2012 - John Carroll 40, St. Norbert 3 - Donnybrook Stadium *
2012 - Notre Dame 50, Navy 10 - Aviva Stadium *
2014 - Penn State vs. UCF - Croke Park *

Penn State vs. AAC
The American Athletic Conference is in its second year of competition, but Penn State has a long history vs. the teams in the conference.

The Nittany Lions own a 55-6-1 on-field mark against the 2014 football alignment of the AAC.
Penn State has played eight of the 11 teams in the American, with longtime rival Temple among the 2014 alignment.

Penn State will play both UCF and Temple this season.

Penn State Season Openers
The 2014 season will mark the 128th in Penn State history, with the Nittany Lions owning an official record of 93-20-2 in those games.

• Penn State will be playing their second straight season opening game away from home when they take on UCF in Dublin, Ireland.
• This marks the first time since 1991-92 that the Nittany Lions will play consecutive season openers away from Beaver Stadium.
• Penn State is 7-3 in neutral site season openers dating back to their first known neutral site season opener in 1941. That was a 7-0 loss to Colegate on Oct. 4 at Civic Stadium in Buffalo, N.Y.
• Penn State has only lost consecutive season openers twice in school history; 1964-65, 1989-90, 2000-01. They have never lost three consecutive season openers.
• Penn State's longest streaks of winning their season openers are: 12 (1919-30), 11 (1893-1903), 10 (1973-82)9 (1909-17), 7 (1942-48).
• The Nittany Lions went unbeaten from 1909-1930, winning 20 of 21 season openers. They tied Wissahickon Barracks, 6-6, in 1918 and the streak was stopped by Waynesburg, a 7-0 setback, in 1931.

Lions From Far and Near
Simply put, the 2014 Penn State Football roster is one with significant geographic diversity. In all, Penn State has student-athletes from 20 states, the District of Columbia, Australia and Canada.

The 2014 roster consists of 89 players from states within a 350-mile radius of State College. Pennsylvania leads the way with 49 players hailing from in-state areas.

With 20 different states represented on the roster, Penn State ranks among the nation's most geographically diverse programs in the country. The Nittany Lions are tied for 11th nationally.

Nebraska is the only Big Ten school with more states located on their 2014 roster, ranking second in the NCAA with 25 of the 50 states represented. Penn State and Minnesota are tied with 20 state apiece.

New Jersey is second on the list with 15 players from the Garden State. There are nine players from Maryland and seven from Virginia. Florida is fifth on the list with four Nittany Lions from the Sunshine State.

Nittany Lions From Florida
DT Tarow Barney (Gainesville/Bainbridge (Ga.))
P Robby Liebel (St. Petersburg/IMG Academy)
CB Amani Oruwariye (Tampa/Gaither)
LB Garry Wooten (Miami/Hialeah Senior)

Amos Leads Lions in Career Starts
Senior safety Adrian Amos leads the 2014 squad with 25 career starts, having started every game the past two seasons.

Senior guard Miles Dieffenbach (23), junior tackle Donovan Smith (20), junior defensive end Deion Barnes (18) and junior tight end Jesse James (18) are next on the career starts list entering the season.

Six players that started all 12 games last season return for 2014; Amos, Dieffenbach, James, Christian Hackenberg and Jordan Lucas.

Position Changes
Among the Penn State players who are playing new positions ths season are: Derek Dowrey (DT to G), Jordan Dudas (S to LB), Brian Gaia (DT to G), Albert Hall (TE to T), Von Walker (RB to LB) and Anthony Zettel (DE to DT).

Six Bowl Teams on 2014 Schedule
The Nittany Lions will face six teams that played in bowl games last year, with three of those games played at Beaver Stadium, two on the road and one at a neutral site.

• Penn State will open the season with the Croke Park Classic in Dublin, Ireland against UCF, which won the Fiesta Bowl over Baylor in 2013.
• Among the teams coming to Beaver Stadium this fall are 2013 bowl teams: Ohio State (Orange), Maryland (Military) and Michigan State (Rose).
• The Nittany Lions will travel to take on 2013 bowl attendees Michigan (Buffalo Wide Wings) and Rutgers (Pinstripe).

Zwinak in Rare Air Among Lion Rushers
Senior running back Zach Zwinak won't blow you away with his 40 time, but be will bowl you over on his way to another first down or one of his 18 career touchdowns.

After making just three runs during his freshman season, Zwinak has been a workhorse for the Nittany Lions over the past two seasons and is closing in on some significant milestones entering 2014.

• Zwinak enters the season just four yards shy of becoming the 18th player in school history to eclipse the 2,000-yard barrier in a career.
• He currently ranks tied for 10th in school history with 11 games over 100-yards rushing (Dozier). He notched six 100-yard game in 2012 and added five such efforts in 2013.
• His 12 rushing touchdowns in 2013 are tied for ninth on the single season charts and marked the first double-digit rushing TD season since 2008 (Royster).
• Zwinak has posted eight of his 11 100-yard rushing games in November.
• He enters the season with 18 career rushing touchdowns and is just two shy of becoming the 18th player with 20 career rushing scores.

Fifteen Nittany Lion Starters Return
The Nittany Lions return 15 starters -- seven on defense, seven on offense and placekicker Sam Ficken. Six additional defensive players and three more offensive players also have starting experience.

Among the Nittany Lions' returning starters are seven players who earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten recognition last season: safety Adrian Amos, placekicker Sam Ficken, quarterback Christian Hackenberg, tight end Jesse James, cornerback Jordan Lucas, defensive end C.J. Olaniyan and tackle Donovan Smith.

Belton, Zwinak Each Over 1,000 Career Yards Entering 2014
Seniors Bill Belton and Zach Zwinak both enter the 2014 campaign among the elite runners in Penn State history. The duo has 14 combined 100-yard rushing efforts and over 3,000-yards rushing combined over the last three seasons.

• Only 41 players in Penn State history have totaled 1,000 career rushing yards. Zwinak (1,996) and Belton (1.131) are both among that group.
• Zwinak enters the season just four yards shy of becoming the 18th player in school history to eclipse the 2,000-yard barrier in a career.
• Belton currently ranks 35th in school history with 1,131 rushing yards and is just 200-yards shy of moving into the top-20 in Penn State history.
• The duo has combined for 14 career 100-yard rushing games. Belton has three such efforts, including becoming the 15th PSU player with 200-yard in a game vs. Illinois in 2013, while Zwinak ranks tied for 10th in school history with 11 games over 100-yards rushing.

Penn State Returns 40 Lettermen
Penn State returns 40 lettermen from last year's 7-5 squad -- 23 on defense, 15 on offense and two specialists. Of the 40 lettermen returning, 23 have starting experience -- 13 on defense, eighton offense and the starting placekicker.

The Nittany Lions have lost the services of 19 letterwinners -- 13 on offense, five on defense and one specialist.

Hackenberg Looks to Build Off Strong Rookie Campaign
Quarterback Christian Hackenberg impressed everyone with his abilities and moxie during his freshman campaign in 2013. The second-year signal caller will look to build on his impressive rookie campaign when the season begins against UCF.

• Hackenberg completed 231-of-392 passes (59 percent), for 2,955 passing yards and 20 touchdown passes in 12 starts last season.
• He broke the Penn State freshman single game record for passing yards twice in 2013. He threw for 340 yards at Indiana on Oct. 5 after a 311-yard effort against Eastern Michigan on Sept. 7. Zack Mills twice threw for 280 yards (Ohio State & Southern Miss) during his freshman year in 2001.
• His nine games with at least 200 yards broke Mills' freshman record of five from the 2001 season. He currently ranks tied for eighth with Todd Blackledge and Wally Richardson in career 200-yard passing games in career.
• He is one of only four quarterbacks in PSU history to post multiple 300-plus yard passing games in career, ranking tied for second with Kerry Collins in school history with four such games. Hackenberg trails Matt McGloin (six) on the career 300-yard passing games list.
• Hackenberg's 55 passing attempts at Indiana in 2013 marked just the fourth time in PSU history a signal caller amassed 50 passing attempts in a game. It broke Collins' school record of 54 in 1992 at BYU.
• Eight of his 20 scoring strikes were 45 yards or longer, including a career-long 68 touchdown pass to Adam Breneman in the 2013 season finale at Wisconsin.
• He ranked second in the Big Ten and is 35th in the nation in completions per game (19.25) and was third and 34th, respectively, in passing yards per game (2246.3).
• Hackenberg has thrown for at least 250 yards in five of the team's 11 games, including three 300-yard efforts, and
• He had 14 completions of 40-plus yards or longer in 2013, which tied for eighth nationally. That total was also tied for tops among freshman quarterbacks in the NCAA (Winston, FSU).
• On the awards front, Hackenberg is a preseason candidate for the Maxwell and O'Brien Awards.
• In 2013 he was named the Big Ten Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Year, earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week five times and garnered Freshman All-American honors from Athlon Sports, Phil Steele's College Football and CollegeFootballNews.com.

Lions Backfield Primed for Success
When Penn State takes the field at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland the Nittany Lions will have one of the most formidable backfields in the Big Ten.

Among the components will be a pair of career 1,000-yard backs, a sophomore that averaged six yards per carry, the star of the 2014 Blue-White Game and a stable of highly touted rookies.

Seniors Zach Zwinak and Bill Belton headline the group, while sophomores Akeel Lynch and Cole Chiappialle had strong showings in the spring and fall.

They will also have four other experienced returnees and a rookie trio of Mark Allen, Nick Scott and Johnathan Thomas.

• Belton, Lynch and Zwinak all posted 100-yard rushing games in 2013. The last time Penn State had three 100-yard rushers in the same season was during the 2007 season when senior Rodney Kinlaw, freshman Evan Royster and senior Austin Scott all delivered such games.
• Zwinak enters the season just four yards shy of cracking the 2,000 career yard mark. The senior has 1,996 yards in his career to rank 18th on the all-time list. He also ranks tied for 10th in Penn State history with 11 100-yard rushing games.
• Belton became the 41st player in school history to rush for 1,000 career yards in 2013 and currently ranks 35th on the PSU charts with 1,131 rushing yards.
• Belton and Lynch both posted 100-yards rushing against Eastern Michigan in 2013 to mark the 32nd time in program history Penn State had two 100-yard rushers in the same game. It was the first time since 2010 against Northwestern that two players topped the 100-yard rushing mark.

Academic All-America® Candidates
Junior linebacker Ben Kline is a two-time Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District® honoree, owning a 3.85 grade-point average in finance, and will lead another strong contingent of Nittany Lions who are Academic All-America® candidates this season (3.30 GPA or higher/starter or key reserve):

Brad Bars, 3.71 GPA; finance
Jesse Della Valle, 3.41; advertising & public relations
Miles Dieffenbach, 3.30; advertising & public relations
Sam Ficken, 3.63; finance
DaeSean Hamilton, 3.35; communications
Ben Kline, 3.85; finance
Mike Hull, 3.36; finance
Ryan Keiser, 3.36; kinesiology
Deron Thompson, 3.64; energy, business & finance

In 2013, John Urschel became the Penn State football team's 63rd Academic All-America® selection all-time, the second-highest total among all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institutions, trailing only Nebraska.

The Nittany Lions' 18 Academic All-Americans® over the past eight seasons (16 first-team) lead the nation. The Penn State football team has had at least one first-team Academic All-American® in 10 of the past 12 seasons (19 overall first-team selections since 2002).

Since starting Big Ten Conference competition in 1993, the Nittany Lion football team has had 29 Academic All-Americans®, 23 of whom earned first-team honors.

Ficken Nears Record Books After Successful 2013 Season
There aren't many people who would have believed that Sam Ficken would be among the top kickers in Penn State history after a five-miss game at Virginia in 2012.

However, entering his senior season Ficken has already set two school records and is approaching rare company on a pair of scoring lists.

• Ficken connected on a then-career-long 47-yard field goal in the second quarter against UCF to mark his 15th consecutive successful FG attempt, which is now the school standard. Ficken made his final 10 attempts of 2012 and then connected on his first five field goals in 2013 to break Craig Fayak's previous mark of 13 straight makes in 1992.
• One of just 11 Nittany Lions to convert 30 career field goals, Ficken is just five successful tries away from moving into the top-10 on career field goals made. His 30 field goals trail only Chris Bahr's 35 from 1973-75 for 10th on the career list.
• Ficken is just 20 points shy of pushing his name into the top-15 in school history in points scored. He has 171 points in his career, making 30 field goals and 81 extra points.
• Ficken again wrote his name into the Penn State record books on Sept. 21 vs. Kent State when he converted a career-best 54-yard field goal. His effort was the longest field goal by a Penn State player in home game history and tied for fifth in the NCAA in 2012.
• The 54-yard field goal also ranks tied for fourth on the career charts with Herb Menhardt (1979) and trails only three 55-yard conversions by Chris Bahr in 1975. The other four field goals all came on the road.

Hull Among Preseason selections for Butkus Award
Senior linebacker Mike Hull was selected as one of 51 players named to the Butkus Award Preseason Watch List.

Presented annually to the nation's top linebacker since 1985, "Linebacker U." All-Americans LaVar Arrington (1999) and Paul Posluszny (2005) are former winners of the Butkus Award.

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.

Penn State in 22nd Big Ten Season
After 106 years as an independent in football, Penn State began play in the Big Ten Conference in 1993 and is playing its 22nd season in the conference. The Nittany Lions were Big Ten Champions in 1994, beating Oregon to win the 1995 Rose Bowl, and played USC in the 2009 Rose Bowl.

The Nittany Lions will begin Big Ten play at division foe Rutgers on Sept. 13 and finish the regular season against Michigan State at Beaver Stadium on Nov. 29. Penn State will also play division rival Ohio State (Oct. 25) and Maryland (Nov. 1) at home.

The road schedule features divisional opponents Michigan (Oct. 11) and Indiana (Nov. 8), while they will face non-division opponent Northwestern (Sept. 27) at home and Illinois (Nov. 22) on the road.

The Big Ten will play an eight game schedule in 2014 and `15, before moving to a 16-game slate starting in 2016.

2014 Big Ten Divisions (Football Only):
East Division: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers.
West Division: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin.

Hackenberg Named to Maxwell, O'Brien Award Watch Lists
After a stellar true freshman season, sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg is among the preseason candidates for both the Maxwell and O'Brien Awards.

Hackenberg is one of just seven sophomores listed on the 33-player O'Brien Award watch list, given to the nation's top signal caller. He is also among the preseason candidates for the Maxwell Award, presented to the nation's college football player of the year.

Hackenberg was selected the 2013 Thompson-Randle El Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year after a tremendous true freshman season. He garnered first-team True Freshman All-America accolades from 247Sports.com after completing 231 of 392 passes for 2,955 yards, with 20 touchdowns and 10 interceptions .

James Joins Carter as Preseason Mackey Award Selections
Penn State will own one of the most skilled and talented tight end groups in the country in 2014, and the John Mackey Award Watch List confirmed that when juniors Kyle Carter and Jesse James were both named to the preseason list for the prestigious award that honors the nation's top collegiate tight end.

Carter was tied for third on the team with 18 receptions for 222 yards and one game-winning touchdown in 2013. He was a mid-season candidate for the award in 2013, after being the only freshman on the award's mid-season watch list in 2012.

James enters his junior campaign as the team's leading returnee in receptions and receiving yards, and was named pre-season All-Big Ten by Sporting News. James has made 18 starts in his initial two seasons, tied for fourth-highest on the squad, and had 25 catches for 333 yards in 2013.

The Mackey Award honors outstanding athletic prowess on the field, along with positive sportsmanship-like behavior, good academic standing & exceptional leadership abilities.

Outland Trophy Adds Route 76 to Preseason Watch List
The Outland Trophy is awarded to the nation's top interior lineman and junior left tackle Donovan Smith has earned a spot on the awards 64-person preseason watch list entering the 2014 campaign.

A cornerstone of the Nittany Lions' offensive line, Smith will be counted on to provide leadership for a unit that lost three starters and two key reserves from their 2013 rotation. An honorable-mention All-Big Ten choice last year, he has earned the nickname Route 76 from Nittanyville, Penn State's passionate student group.

Smith enters his junior campaign as one of the Nittany Lions' most talented and experienced players and is an All-Big Ten candidate. He started 11 games last year and has 20 career starts over the past two seasons, the team's third-highest total.

Zwinak, Belton Among Preseason Doak Walker Candidates
The running back tandem of Bill Belton and Zach Zwinak are among the 53 players on the preseason Doak Walker Award watch list for the nation's premier running back.

Penn State is one of seven school's with multiple candidates on the Walker watch list.

Belton is coming off of his most productive season in the Blue & White. He finished second on the team with 1,036 all-purpose yards, including 803 rushing yards on 157 carries.

Zwinak led the squad with 989 rushing yards a year ago, just 11 markers shy of his second-straight 1,000-yard season. The senior had a nose for the end zone with 12 rushing touchdowns last season.

The Doak Walker Award is given annually to the nation's top running back for his accomplishments on the field, achievement in the classroom and citizenship in the community.

Bednarik, Thorpe Awards Add Lucas to Preseason Watch Lists
One of the top returning cornerbacks in the Big Ten, junior Jordan Lucas is among those selected to the preseason watch lists for the Bednarik and Thorpe Awards.

The Bednarik Award is bestowed upon the nation's defensive player of the year, while the Thorpe Award is given to the top defensive back in college football.

He started all 12 games and tied for third in the Big Ten with 16 passes defended (1.33 avg.) in 2013. Lucas tied for the team lead with three interceptions, all of which came in conference play, and led the Nittany Lions with 13 pass breakups.

The metropolitan New York City product was third on the team with 64 tackles, leading the squad with 45 solo stops. He also recorded 4.5 tackles for loss (minus-20), one sack and forced two fumbles last season.

Three Nittany Lions Have Penn State Football Lineage
A trio of returning members of the 2014 Penn State squad have ties to current or former Nittany Lion players, coaches or staff:

• Redshirt freshman guard Evan Galimberti is the son of Mark Galimberti, who played at Penn State and graduated in 1988;
• Sophomore wide receiver Gregg Garrity's father, Gregg, lettered from 1980-82. The elder Garrity made one of the iconic plays in Penn State football history with his diving TD catch to help beat Georgia in the 1983 Sugar Bowl for the Nittany Lions' first National Championship;
• Senior linebacker Mike Hull's father, Tom, lettered for the Nittany Lions at linebacker from 1971-73, helping Penn State to its first 12-0 season as a senior. An uncle, John Hull, was a tight end who lettered for the Nittany Lions in 1970-71.

Over 90 Academic All-Big Ten Honorees Since 2010
A total of 24 Penn State football student-athletes earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2012 for owning at least a 3.0 grade point average and being a letterwinner.

A total of 232 Nittany Lions have earned Academic All-Big Ten honors on the gridiron since 1993, including 91 over the past three seasons.

Nearly 50 Nittany Lions Compile 3.0 GPA During Spring Semester
The Penn State football team produced another outstanding academic performance during the spring semester, with 46 squad members earning at least a 3.0 grade-point average, including three with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Forty of the 46 Nittany Lions will be returning for the 2014 season. During the 2013 spring semester, there also were 46 players that compiled a 3.0 GPA or higher.

Among the 46 high achieving Nittany Lions this past spring semester, 24 posted a 3.5 GPA or higher, with 21 passing the minimum 12 credits, to earn Dean's List recognition. The 21 Dean's List honorees is a significant increase from last spring's total of 12.

The superlative academic performance by James Franklin's squad during the spring semester brings to 41 the total number of Penn State football student-athletes with a cumulative 3.0 or higher GPA who are returning for the 2014 season. The 41 total also is an increase over the spring 2013 total of 34 returning players with a 3.0 GPA.

Redshirt freshman placekicker Chris Gulla was among three Nittany Lions that compiled a 4.00 grade-point average during the semester. The Dean's List student has a 3.60 cumulative GPA. Also earning a 4.0 GPA were seniors Kyle Baublitz and Pat Zerbe, who graduated in May.

Among some of the other returning Nittany Lions who made the Dean's List last spring were: wide receiver Gregg Garrity, safety Ryan Keiser, linebacker Ben Kline, kick snapper Zach Ladonis, cornerback Jesse Merise, quarterback Michael O'Connor and receiver Matt Zanellato.

Sixteen First-Team Academic All-Americans in Past Eight Years
Penn State has earned a nation's-best 18 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans® over the past eight years, with 16 first-team honorees.

In 2013, guard John Urschel become the 11th Nittany Lion to attain first-team Academic All-America® honors twice.

Penn State has had 63 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans® all-time, to rank No. 2 nationally among Football Bowl Subdivision programs.

The Penn State football team has had at least one first-team Academic All-American® in 10 of the past 12 seasons (19 overall first-team selections since 2002).

San Diego State Added to 2015 Schedule
The 2015 Penn State football schedule is near completion with the announcement that the Nittany Lions will host San Diego State on Sept. 26 in Beaver Stadium.

The two programs have never collided on the football field. Penn State has one non-conference game left to be scheduled to complete the 2015 schedule.

Penn State has a 4-0 record all-time against current Mountain West Conference members, having played Air Force (3-0) and Utah State (1-0). The last game against a current MWC member was in 1977, as the Nittany Lions beat Utah State in Beaver Stadium.

The Nittany Lions have met four programs from the state of California. Penn State has played against Cal, Stanford, UCLA and USC, compiling a 13-11 on-field overall mark and an 8-2 record at home.

Lions and Hokies Schedule First Meeting on Gridiron for 2022 Season
Penn State will visit Blacksburg on September 17, 2022 and Virginia Tech will travel to Beaver Stadium on Sept. 16, 2023.

Despite having campuses located less than 375 miles apart, Penn State and Virginia Tech have never met. The Nittany Lions have played Virginia (5-3), VMI (1-0) and William & Mary (4-0) from The Old Dominion, earning a cumulative 10-3 on-field record.

Virginia Tech AD Jim Weaver earned bachelor's (1967) and master's degrees (1968) from Penn State, playing center and linebacker for the Nittany Lions. A native of Harrisburg, Weaver began his coaching career with the Nittany Lions as a graduate assistant (1967-68) and was an assistant coach from 1969-72.

Virginia Tech will be the 13th Atlantic Coast Conference institution Penn State has played on the gridiron, with Duke the only other ACC team the Nittany Lions have not played. Penn State will open this season vs. Syracuse in the Orange's first game as an ACC member and played at Virginia last year.

Penn State has a 181-87-11 all-time on-field record vs. current ACC teams.

Pitt Returns to Schedule in 2016
Long-time rivals Penn State and Pitt will renew their rivalry that dates back to the 1893 season.
The two teams will meet every season from 2016-19. The Nittany Lions will play in Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2018 and the Panthers will play in State College in 2017 and 2019.

Penn State owns an on field record of 50-42-4 against the Panthers, but the two teams have not met since 2000.

2015 Blue-White Weekend Date Set
The 2015 date has been set for one of the highlights of the Penn State sports calendar, the Blue-White Game presented by AAA.

The Blue-White football game will be played Saturday, April 18, 2015 in Beaver Stadium. The intra-squad scrimmage is tentatively scheduled to kick in the mid to late afternoon. More details about Blue-White Game related events will be announced after the 2014 season.

Coach James Franklin's Nittany Lions concluded spring practice last Saturday, with an estimated 72,000 fans attending the Blue-White Game, the nation's largest spring football crowd thus far in 2014.

The Blue-White Game presented by AAA is the university's unofficial annual spring reunion. The game has drawn more than 50,000 fans in six of the past eight years, including three consecutive crowds above 70,000.

Another Sellout for Penn State's Unrivaled Student Section
Including a lightning-fast six-minute sellout for the freshman class on Thursday, Penn State student football season tickets have sold out again.

More than 21,000 students purchased season tickets to take their place amongst as the top student sections in the nation.

Penn State's proud and enthusiastic student section in Beaver Stadium is the nation's second-largest full season student ticket section of any school, for any sport.

ESPN's College Gameday and ESPN The Magazine ("The Nation's No. 1 Student section") are among the national media accolades for the Nittany Lions' loud and impactful student section.

Big Ten Network to Air Multiple Penn State Games Among 40-Plus Football Games This Season
BTN will air 40-plus football games this season, with each school making a minimum of two appearances, including at least one conference game.

BTN televised four Nittany Lion games in 2013 and are slated to carry the Big Ten opener at Rutgers on Sept. 13 at 8 p.m.

The Big Ten Network is available to more than 90 million homes across the United States and Canada, and has agreements with more than 300 affiliates.

The network, though, is not carried by Adams and Blue Ridge cable in Pennsylvania. The network also is not available to Armstrong Cable customers in western Pennsylvania and in the Medina and Youngstown, Ohio areas. A combined total of more than 35,000 Penn State alumni live in communities served by the three cable providers, in addition to thousands more fans and current Penn State students.

The Big Ten Network will televise approximately 1,200 events in 2014-15, all in HD, including 40-45 football games, at least 110 men's basketball games, at least 55 women's basketball games, Olympic sport events and conference championships.

The Big Ten Network is available in more than 95 percent of the homes in the 11 Big Ten states.

The network is available to more than 90 million homes across the United States and Canada, and has agreements with more than 300 affiliates, including DirecTV, DISH Network, AT&T, Verizon FiOS, Atlantic Broadband, Beaver Valley Cable, Bright House, Cablevision, CATV Service, Inc., Charter, Comcast, Consolidated Communications, Cox (Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Las Vegas, Northern Virginia), Insight, Kuhn Communications, Mediacom, Midcontinent, Millheim TV, Nittany Media, RCN, Rogers Cable (Canada), Service Electric Cable TV, Service Electric Cablevision, Service Electric Broadband Cable, Shaw Cable and Shaw Direct (Canada), Shen-Heights TV, Tele-Media, Time Warner Cable, Western Broadband, Windstream and WOW, Zampelli Electronics and Zito Media.

For more information on the Big Ten Network, including the Channel Finder feature, go to www.BTN.com.

Penn State Sports Network Airs All Nittany Lion Games; Weekly Coaches Show
All Penn State football and basketball games can be heard on the Penn State Sports Network, a property of Learfield Sports.

Nearly 60 stations in six states carry the Nittany Lion broadcasts, which can also be heard on GoPSUsports.com, the official website of Penn State Athletics, and Sirius XM. Steve Jones and Jack Ham are in their 15th season together calling the action on the gridiron.

Football broadcasts on the Penn State Sports Network begin 90 minutes prior to kickoff with "The Penn State Tailgate Show."

The network will also carry "The Penn State Football Show Presented by Pepsi" every Thursday throughout the season. The program also will be carried live on GoPSUsports.com via Penn State All-Access.

The one-hour program will take place at Damon's Grill on East College Ave. in State College every Thursday at 6:05 p.m. from late August through the end of the football season.

For a complete listing of Penn State Sports Network affiliates, go to: http://www.gopsusports.com/ot/radio-tv.html

Penn State Claims Unprecedented 29th Lambert Trophy in 2013
Penn State captured an unprecedented 29th Lambert Trophy, symbolic of Eastern football supremacy, for the 2013 season. The Nittany Lions were honored March 27 at the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet, hosted by the ECAC, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

Prior to 2013, Penn State's most recent Lambert Trophy selection had been in 2009, which was the 24th Lambert Trophy title captured under Coach Joe Paterno.

Eighteen institutions have captured the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy, but no four schools combined can match Penn State's 29 titles.

Established in 1936 by brothers Victor and Henry Lambert in memory of their father, August, the Lambert Trophy was first captured by Penn State in 1947 under Coach Bob Higgins. Coach Rip Engle guided Lambert Trophy winners in 1961, '64 and '65. The first of Paterno's Lambert titles came in 1967.

Penn State finished the 2013 season with a 31-24 victory over No. 14 Wisconsin, claiming its first on-field Top 15 win since beating No. 13 LSU in the 2010 Capital One Bowl.

Cappelletti's No. 22 To Be Retired
John Cappelletti, who won the Heisman Trophy in leading Penn State to a 12-0 record in 1973, will have his No. 22 jersey retired.

The announcement was made by Director of Athletics Dave Joyner during the Sept. 7, 2013 game against Eastern Michigan, as the 1973 team celebrated its 40th reunion.

Cappelletti is the first Penn State student-athlete to have his or her number retired.
The No. 22 jersey will be retired at the end of the career of redshirt sophomore running back Akeel Lynch, a request that was made by Cappelletti.

From Upper Darby, Pa., Cappelletti was a consensus first-team All-America running back in 1973 for Coach Joe Paterno and won the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp, ABC-TV and UPI Player-of-the-Year in addition to the Heisman.

A defensive back his first two years as a Nittany Lion, Cappelletti ran for 1,522 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior in 1973. His 1,522 yards remain No. 4 on the Penn State season list. His 2,639 career rushing yards rank No. 11 in Penn State history and he scored 29 career touchdowns.

Cappelletti posted 13 100-yard rushing games and strung together three consecutive 200-yard games in the final month of the 1973 season, topped by 220 yards in a win over North Carolina State.

Cappelletti captured the nation's heart when he dedicated the Heisman Trophy to his younger brother, Joey, who would pass away from childhood leukemia. The story of Cappelletti's family and the 1973 season inspired the TV movie '"Something For Joey."

A first-round draft choice of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, Cappelletti played 10 seasons in the NFL, six with the Rams and four with the San Diego Chargers.

Cappelletti was enshrined in the National Football Foundation College Hall of Fame in 1993.

Nine Game Big Ten Slate in 2016
Big Ten teams will play eight conference games from 2013-15, with a nine-game conference schedule starting in 2016.

The Nittany Lions will play their six East Division rivals and three West Division teams that rotate starting in 2016.

Penn State and all East Division teams will have five Big Ten home games in 2016 and in even-numbered years thereafter.

Penn State Plays Record Three Home Overtime Games in 2013
The Beaver Stadium faithful got their money's worth and more during the 2013 Big Ten schedule, as Penn State became the first team to play three conference overtime home games in one season.

The Nittany Lions joined the 2012 Wisconsin squad as the only two Big Ten teams to ever play three overtime games in one season, with the Badgers playing two overtime games at home and one on the road (at Penn State).

Four of Penn State's last five Big Ten home games have gone into overtime; three in 2013 and the 2012 season-finale with Wisconsin.

Penn State's previous high for overtime games in a season was two during the 2002 campaign.

Maryland, Rutgers Enter Big Ten; East-West Division Alignments Begins
A pair of old Penn State rivals, Maryland and Rutgers, will become members of the Big Ten on July 1, 2014 and join the Nittany Lions in the conference's East Division starting this season.

The Big Ten East Division will consist of Penn State, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Rutgers. The West Division will include Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin. Teams in the same division will play each other annually.

Penn State will provide the opposition for the Scarlet Knights' first Big Ten game, on Sept. 13, 2014 in Piscataway, N.J. The meeting also will be the opening game of the Big Ten's 119th football season. The Nittany Lions have played Rutgers nine times in New Jersey, but the last six meetings came at Giants Stadium, most recently in 1995. Penn State has played at Rutgers in 1951, '53 and '55. The teams have met 24 times, with the first game in 1918 and the last meeting in 1995. From 1977-95, the Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights played every season except in 1980 and '81.

The Terrapins will visit Beaver Stadium on Nov. 1 for the first time since a Sept. 26, 1992 contest. Penn State and Maryland have met 37 times, with the first game in 1917 and the last contest in 1993 in College Park. From 1960-93, the Nittany Lions and Terrapins played every year except 1976, `81 and `83.
The Nittany Lions and Spartans will end the 2014-16 campaigns against each other as they did from 1993-2010 in the battle for the Land Grant Trophy. In 2017, Penn State will visit Maryland in the regular-season finale.

`UNRIVALED: The Penn State Football Story' Presented by Pepsi Premieres August 28
Penn State Athletics and Penn State Public Media are continuing their partnership this fall to produce "Unrivaled: The Penn State Football Story," Presented by Pepsi, a weekly preview show that will chronicle Coach James Franklin's Nittany Lions throughout the 2014 season.

"Unrivaled: The Penn State Football Story" Presented by Pepsi will debut August 28 in some markets and air on WPSU-TV, across the Commonwealth and in numerous markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast (see affiliates and schedule below).

Fans are encouraged to check local listings for possible schedule changes, particularly for the first episode and final episode, which will air during Thanksgiving week.

The 30-minute preview program will debut on Thursday, August 28, two days before the Nittany Lions meet UCF in the Croke Park Classic in Dublin, Ireland.

The program will provide a fast-paced, intimate look inside the Nittany Lion football program. It will include a look at game week preparation, an all-access look at the coaching staff and visits with selected players on and off the field throughout the season.

The coverage also may include a review of the previous week's game with highlights, sideline and locker room coverage. An enhanced game highlight package from each week's game can be found on the Penn State All-Access Channel on www.GoPSUsports.com for free every Sunday following a game.

Penn State Public Media is in its third year working with Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics to produce the Nittany Lion football team's weekly in-season TV show. Last year's program, "Penn State Football 2013 - The Next Chapter," recently was nominated for a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award.

Penn State Public Media also works in partnership with Penn State Athletics to produce weekly in-season TV shows for men's basketball, "Penn State Basketball: In The Paint" and women's basketball, "Courtside With Coquese." "In The Paint" was nominated for a 2013 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award. "Courtside With Coquese" received a Mid-Atlantic Emmy award in 2008 and was nominated for an Emmy in 2013.

Among the outlets carrying "Unrivaled: Penn State Football Story" Presented by Pepsi are:

WPSU-TV, Ch. 3 (State College/Central Pa.) - Friday, 9:00 p.m. & Saturday, 11:00 a.m.
WTAJ-TV, Ch. 10/32 (State College/Altoona/Johnstown) - Thursday, 7:00 p.m.
CSN-Philadelphia (Philadelphia/New Jersey) - Thursday, 11 p.m.
Root Sports (Western Pa./Eastern Ohio/West Va.) - Friday, 2:30 p.m.
WLYH-TV, Ch. 15/EHP MyNet 21.2 (Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York) - Saturday, 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, 11:00 a.m.
WNEP2 (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) - Thursday, 9:30 p.m.
WFMZ-TV, Ch. 69 (Allentown/Northeast Philadelphia) - Saturday, 11:30 a.m.
WFXP-TV, Ch. 66 (Erie) - Saturday, 6:30 a.m.
MASN (Baltimore-Washington, D.C.) - Thursday, 10:30 p.m.

Nittany Lions Win Longest Game In Big Ten History
When Penn State running back Bill Belton scored the game-winning touchdown in the fourth overtime against Michigan on Oct. 12, 2013, he capped a 10-point comeback in the final 6:35 and ended the longest game in the 118-year gridiron history of the Big Ten Conference.

The four extra frames were the longest Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) game during the 2013 season.

Penn State's previous longest game was its 26-23, three-overtime victory over Florida State in the 2006 FedEx Orange Bowl.