Aug. 20, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State football head coach James Franklin announced that seniors Marcus Allen (Upper Marlboro, Md.), Tyler Davis (St. Charles, Ill.), Grant Haley (Atlanta, Ga.) and DaeSean Hamilton (Fredericksburg, Va.) and junior Saquon Barkley (Coplay, Pa.) will join senior Jason Cabinda (Flemington, N.J.) and juniors Trace McSorley (Ashburn, Va.) and Nick Scott (Fairfax, Va.) as team captains for the 2017 season. The group was selected in a vote by their teammates.
Allen was selected third-team All-Big Ten by the conference's coaches and honorable mention by the media panel last season. He made a team- and career-high 110 tackles on the season to become the first Penn State safety to lead the team in tackles since Shawn Mayer (144) in 2002. He was honored as the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week and Rose Bowl Player of the Week for his 22-tackle effort versus Minnesota Oct. 1. He also claimed Oct. 24 Co-Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week accolades after blocking a field goal attempt versus No. 2 Ohio State, which led to the game-winning touchdown by teammate Grant Haley. Allen finished the season ranked 16th in the Big Ten with 7.9 tackles per game and was third in the conference with two fumble recoveries. For his career, Allen has 249 tackles, 13.0 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and eight pass breakups.
Davis earned the 2016 Vlade Award for the nation's most accurate kicker from the Touchdown Club of Columbus to go along with first-team All-Big Ten accolades from the conference coaches and second team accolades from the media. Davis tied the Penn State single-season record with 62 converted extra points attempts, equaling Brett Conway's mark from 1994 and tied for No. 2 on Penn State's single-season field goals made charts (22), trailing only Sam Ficken's 24 makes from 2014. Davis finished No. 5 on the PSU single-season scoring charts (128 points) and also tied the Big Ten single-season kick scoring record with 128 points, equaling the mark set by Ohio State's Sean Nuernberger in 2014. For his career, Davis ranks No. 12 on Penn State's career field goals made charts with 30. He also broke the school record for consecutive field goals made with 18, topping Sam Ficken's mark of 15 straight makes between the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The 18-straight made field goals were tied for the longest streak in the Big Ten since Brad Craddock (UMD) converted 24-straight in from 2013-14 and are tied for fourth in Big Ten history. Davis led the Big Ten and was eighth nationally with a .917 field goal percentage and was second in the conference and 11th nationally in total points (128).
Haley was on the backend of one of the most memorable plays of the 2016 season when he scooped up Marcus Allen's blocked punt and ran 60 yards for the game-winning touchdown against No. 2 Ohio State. For his efforts, Haley earned Co-Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week (Marcus Allen, PSU) and Rose Bowl Game Big Ten Player of the Week. Haley was also in on another notable play last season when he teamed with Allen to stuff Corey Clement on fourth-and-1 on Wisconsin's final drive of the Big Ten Championship game. In the Rose Bowl, Haley tied his career high with seven tackles and had two pass breakups. Haley has also excelled in the classroom, earning CoSIDA Academic All-District honors last season and earning a spot on the Academic All-Big Ten team twice.
A fifth-year senior, Hamilton has been a mainstay in the receivers' room, catching at least one pass in 34 consecutive games to start his career and 38 of 40 games overall. With 161 career catches, Hamilton ranks tied for fourth in program history and needs 19 receptions to break Deon Butler's career receptions record (179). He also ranks 10th on Penn State's all-time receiving yardage list (1,985). Hamilton is one of just 14 Nittany Lions with 100-plus career receptions, joining former teammate Chris Godwin (154; 2014-16) and current assistant coach Terry Smith (108; 1989-91). As a freshman, Hamilton pulled in a Big Ten-leading 82 receptions to rank second on the Penn State single-season charts. He also set the program's freshman record for receptions (14) and receiving yards (165) in a game in 2014. He had 165 yards against UCF and 14 catches against No. 13 Ohio State.
Barkley is a preseason first-team All-American for Sporting News, Lindy's, Street & Smith and Athlon Sports. Additionally, he was named the #5 player in FBS by SI.com and earned the #1 spot on Sports Illustrated's "Feldman's Freaks" list heading into the 2017 campaign. Barkley was stellar in 2016, claiming Graham-George Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, Ameche-Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year and the Chicago Tribune Silver Football for the Big Ten's best player last season. Barkley was named to the All-Big Ten first team by the coaches and media, which made him a unanimous first team choice. Barkley led the Big Ten and was fifth in the FBS in total touchdowns (22) and was tops in the conference and 21st nationally in all-purpose yards (140.86 ypg). The junior back was second in the conference and 24th nationally with 106.9 rushing yards per game. His 1,496 yards in 2016 broke the Penn State sophomore season record and rank fifth on the single-season charts. Barkley heads into his junior season 12th on Penn State's career rushing yardage list (2,572) and 10th in career rushing touchdowns (25). Just the eighth player in program history to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons, Barkley had a streak of 14 consecutive games with at least one rush of 20 yards snapped at Rutgers (11/19), a streak that was the second-longest in college football in the last 20 years (19 - LaMichael James, Oregon (2008-10).
The sixth-ranked Nittany Lions open the season against Akron at noon on ABC.
The Nittany Lions' home schedule features a trio of non-conference games, including Pitt's first visit to Beaver Stadium since 1999. The Nittany Lions open the season against Akron (Sept. 2; noon) and face Pitt (Sept. 9; 3:30 p.m.) and Georgia State (Sept. 16; 7:30 p.m.) in a three-game homestand to start the year. In Big Ten play, Penn State welcomes Indiana (Sept. 30), Michigan (Oct. 21), Rutgers (Nov. 11; noon - Homecoming) and Nebraska (Nov. 18) to Happy Valley.
Single-game tickets for the 2017 Penn State football season presented by PSECU are available for five home games (Akron, Georgia State, Indiana, Rutgers, Nebraska). For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing new 2018 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 from 9 a.m-4:30 p.m. More than 9,000 new season tickets have been sold and the season ticket allotment for 2017 has been exhausted.