May 31, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Four more game times for the 2018 Penn State Football season presented by PSECU were announced today. Penn State's season opener against Appalachian State will kick at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 1 on BTN, the Kent State game Sept. 15 will be at noon on FS1 and the Homecoming game against Michigan State will kick at 3:30 or 4 p.m. on Oct. 13.
Additionally, Penn State's game at Illinois will kick at 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21 on FS1. It has also been announced the Oct. 20 game at Indiana will air on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. Television arrangements for Michigan State game will be announced at a later date.
Previously announced, the Keystone Classic presented by Peoples Natural Gas featuring Penn State at Pitt September 8 will kick at 8 p.m. on ABC. In addition to the television arrangements, the games will also air on the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com.
The Nittany Lions will take on Appalachian State for the first time in program history. Penn State is 5-0 all-time against the current members of the Sun Belt Conference, including a 56-0 win over Georgia State to close out the non-conference slate last season. This is the second consecutive season Penn State will face a Sun Belt opponent (Georgia State, 2017).
Penn State used a balanced attack to post a 33-13 win over Kent State when the teams met last in 2016. The Nittany Lion defense registered six sacks and Amani Oruwariye had an interception, while Trace McSorley threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start and Saquon Barkley added 105 rushing yards and a touchdown. Penn State is now 5-0 all-time against the Golden Flashes.
The Nittany Lions are 18-5 all-time against Illinois, including an 8-4 record in games played in Champaign. Penn State has won four of the last five meetings with the Illini, including a 39-0 shutout victory during the 2015 slate. The Nittany Lion defense limited Illinois to just 167 yards of offense and Christian Hackenberg threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns in the victory.
In a back-and-forth series, Michigan State took a 16-15-1 all-time lead over Penn State with a 27-24 win in East Lansing last season. In a game marred by a 3 ½ hour weather delay, Trace McSorley piled up 381 passing yards with three touchdowns. McSorley connected with eight different receivers, led by DaeSean Hamilton (112 yards) and DeAndre Thompkins (102).
Penn State and Indiana have squared off every year since 2007 in Big Ten games. The Nittany Lions are 20-1 all-time against the Hoosiers, including an 8-1 mark in Bloomington. The last time the squads met, Hamilton pulled in three touchdown catches and became Penn State's all-time receptions leader with nine catches for 122 yards. McSorley threw for 315 yards and two scores, while Barkley returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and found Hamilton in the end zone for a score, as well.
Penn State will play at least one regular season night game for the 19th consecutive season. Every Penn State football game has been televised the past 13 seasons and 301 of the last 303 contests overall have been on TV.
Penn State returns 13 starters (8 offensive, 3 defensive, 2 specialists) and 26 additional lettermen. The Nittany Lions open the season at Beaver Stadium against Appalachian State September 1.
More than 6,300 new season tickets have been sold for the 2018 season presented by PSECU. The public single game sale takes place beginning June 26. For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club, 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.