Aug. 4, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion football coaches and players will meet with the media on Saturday for the team's preseason Media Day. The team opened practice for its 131st season Monday.
GoPSUsports.com will play host to extensive media day coverage, including free live streaming audio on LionVision on GoPSUsports.com during press conferences featuring head coach James Franklin, coordinators Brent Pry, Joe Moorhead and Charles Huff and junior running back Saquon Barkley beginning at 11:30 a.m. from the Beaver Stadium Media Room. Additionally, the BTN will be streaming Franklin's 11:30 a.m. press conference on BTN2Go.
Beginning at 1 p.m., LionVision on GoPSUsports.com will host "Media Day Live" with more than an hour of exclusive interviews featuring a host of coaches and student-athletes from Beaver Stadium. The free stream will begin when Barkley joins host Arielle Sargent on the set at 1 p.m.
Franklin and the coaching staff will schedule the initial two weeks of the 29 allotted preseason practices around the last seven days of classes and final exams for Penn State's second summer academic session. Final exams are Aug.11. The team can begin practicing in full pads Friday.
The Nittany Lions are coming off of an 11-3 season that included their fourth Big Ten Championship and first Rose Bowl appearance since 2009. Penn State ended the season in the seventh slot in the Associated Press and Amway Coaches polls. Franklin was named the Sporting News National Coach of the Year for his efforts, while Barkley earned All-America honors.
The Nittany Lions, who are No. 6 in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll, return 45 lettermen and 18 starters from last year's Big Ten Championship squad, led by Barkley and All-Big Ten honorees Trace McSorley, Mike Gesicki, Jason Cabinda, Marcus Allen, Grant Haley and Tyler Davis.
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) 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 2017 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.