Dec. 23, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sixteen members of the Penn State football team have earned their degrees entering the 2014-15 bowl season to rank in the top 10 percent among all Football Bowl Subdivision institutions.
Coach James Franklin's Nittany Lions are the only team in the Big Ten Conference and the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the nation with 16 graduates among the 128 FBS programs entering bowl season, according to research by the University of Alabama Athletic Communications office. Penn State is tied with South Carolina with 16 graduates and Nebraska is second among Big Ten teams with 15 entering bowl season.
The 16 graduates include nine players overall, and seven first-time players, who graduated this past weekend. Senior co-captains Jesse Della Valle and Miles Dieffenbach earned their second undergraduate degrees during the fall semester after graduating last spring.
Senior Adrian Amos was among the football student-athletes who graduated this past weekend, bringing to 10 the number of seniors (out of 13 with senior eligibility) who have earned their degrees prior to the Nittany Lions' clash with Boston College in the New Era Pinstipe Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 27.
Six Nittany Lion juniors also graduated last Saturday: Deion Barnes, Kyle Carter, Ben Kline, Angelo Mangiro, Donovan Smith and Matt Zanellato.
The New Era Pinstripe Bowl also will feature the only pair of teams ranked in the Top 25 of the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate that are playing each other in one of the 38 bowl games to conclude the 2014 season.
Penn State's 87 percent graduation figure was second-highest in the Big Ten Conference and tied with Middle Tennessee State for No. 13 overall among the nation's 128 FBS institutions. The 87 percent figure was up two points from the 2013 NCAA report and tied for the football program's second-highest graduation rate (with 2011). Boston College is tied with Duke for No. 7 nationally with a 92 percent graduation rate.
The Nittany Lions' football graduation rate was tied for No. 5 among all public FBS institutions, trailing only Texas-San Antonio, Northern Illinois, UCF and UCLA. Penn State's graduation figure was 16 points higher than the 71 percent FBS average and was second to Northwestern among Big Ten institutions, according to the NCAA.
The number of graduates and high graduation data is the latest success in a long line of academic achievement for members of the Penn State football program, who consistently are at or near the top nationally in academic success:
- The Nittany Lions' 18 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans® over the past nine years (16 first-team selections) leads the nation. John Urschel earned first-team Academic All-America® accolades in 2012 and 2013 and last year became Penn State's first recipient of the prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy. Penn State has had a least one first team ESPN Academic All-American® in nine of the past 11 seasons;
- The Nittany Lions' all-time total of 63 Academic All-America® football honorees ranks third among all FBS institutions;
- A total of 348 of Penn State football student-athletes, including 20 this year, have earned Academic All-Big Ten honors since 1993 for owning at least a 3.0 grade point average and being a letterwinner.
The Nittany Lions and Boston College will clash in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27 in their 24th all-time meeting and Penn State's 45th bowl appearance. The teams last met in 2004. The New Era Pinstripe Bowl will kick at 4:30 p.m. ET in Yankee Stadium (49,542) and air on ESPN, the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com.
Penn State students, Nittany Lion Club and Penn State Alumni Association members have purchased more than 11,000 tickets for the Pinstripe Bowl, including nearly 1,300 student tickets. Penn State's original ticket allotment was 7,692. Pinstripe Bowl tickets and information on all the related bowl events can be found at www.pinstripebowl.com.
Penn State season ticket renewals also are underway for the 2015 campaign. There will not be any increase in the price of Penn State football season tickets or Nittany Lion Club donation levels for next season. For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing new 2015 season tickets, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office weekdays, 10 a.m-6 p.m.
Penn State Football is on Twitter (@PennStateFball) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/PSUFball).