May 11, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The game time for the Penn State Football Homecoming contest against Maryland Oct. 8 is slated for noon. Television arrangements for the contest will be announced at a later date.
Previously announced, the Nittany Lions will host Ohio State Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. and Iowa Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Additionally, Penn State's game at Rutgers is slated for an 8 p.m. kick Nov. 19.
Penn State is 69-22-5 all-time in Homecoming games with wins in nine of the last 11 games. This year's Homecoming theme, "Old State Inspiring New Beginnings," will be celebrated for the week leading up to and during the game.
After an 11-year hiatus, the Nittany Lions and Terrapins have met the last two seasons as Big Ten foes. Penn State is 36-2-1 all-time against Maryland, including a 21-1 mark at home.
Last season, the Nittany Lion defense forced five turnovers and Christian Hackenberg threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns to lead Penn State to a 31-30 win over the Terps at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. With his performance, Hackenberg became Penn State's all-time passing yardage and completions leader. Chris Godwin was on the receiving end of four passes for 135 yards and a touchdown, while DaeSean Hamilton added five catches for 96 yards and a score. Defensively, Jason Cabinda piled up 10 tackles and Marcus Allen had nine stops, including a sack, and a fumble recovery.
Every Penn State football game has been televised the past 11 seasons and 275 of the last 277 contests overall have been on TV. Penn State will play at least one regular season night game for the 17th consecutive season.
In addition to the television arrangements, Penn State's games will also be available on the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com.
The Nittany Lions return 40 lettermen and 16 starters from last year's TaxSlayer Bowl squad, led by Freshman All-American running back Saquon Barkley and All-Big Ten honorees Chris Godwin, DaeSean Hamilton, Jason Cabinda, Marcus Allen and Grant Haley.
Barkley rushed for a Penn State freshman record 1,076 yards last season on the way to earning Freshman All-America accolades and All-Big Ten second team honors. Godwin became just the third player in program history to register 1,000 receiving yards in a season with 1,101 yards on 69 catches. He was also an All-Big Ten second team choice by the media and third team selection by the coaches. Hamilton earned All-Big Ten honors for the second-straight season with an honorable mention pick in 2015.
Cabinda was honorable mention All-Big Ten after collecting 100 tackles last season to lead the team and rank 15th in the conference. Allen was second on the team with 81 tackles in 12 games a year ago. He also forced a pair of fumbles en route to All-Big Ten honorable mention accolades. Haley was named All-Big Ten honorable mention after leading the team with nine passes defended and made 42 tackles.
The Nittany Lions open the 2016 campaign against Kent State at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, September 3.
Season tickets for the 2016 campaign, which includes five Big Ten home games for the first time are on sale, with more than 3,000 new season tickets having been sold. 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 2016 season tickets, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office weekdays from 10 a.m-6 p.m.