Practice & Media Day Make For Busy Day For Penn State

ARLINGTON, Texas – The No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions worked through an intense, focused practice at AT&T Stadium on Thursday afternoon. The Nittany Lions continued to hone their game plan for Saturday's clash with the No. 17 Memphis Tigers (12-1, 7-1 American Athletic Conference) in the 84th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
 
Before practice, 57 players from Penn State's two-deep depth chart joined Head Coach James Franklin, Defensive Coordinator Brent Pry, Tight Ends Coach and play caller Tyler Bowen, and Special Teams Coordinator Joe Lorig for Media Day. Franklin led things off with a short press conference before the media visited with the players and other coaches for approximately 50 minutes.
 
"At the end of the day for us, part of us preparing our players is not just the schemes, it's also making sure that they understand what they're getting themselves into," said Franklin. "And (Memphis) is a very good football team. This is a well-coached football team. This is an extremely prideful team and proud community as well. And we better be ready to play."

In final full bowl practice tradition, Penn State players all wore different jerseys on the practice field before closing out the final full Cotton Bowl practice with its senior send-off ceremony. Each senior on the team is able to select which group of teammates will carry him off the practice field.
 
Following the conclusion of media day, the Nittany Lions practiced in AT&T Stadium for approximately before returning to the team hotel. Later on Thursday, some members of the team and coaching staff attended a National Basketball Association (NBA) game between the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurts at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Some others chose to remain at the team hotel for Barber Night, as six barbers were available to provide fresh haircuts for players.
 
Friday will mark the final day of events and preparation for Saturday's game, with Head Coach James Franklin participating in the Head Coach Press Conference at 10 a.m. at the Omni Dallas. Later, Franklin will attend the Goodyear Big Play Luncheon at the Hilton Anatole before the Nittany Lions' final practice at AT&T Stadium later in the afternoon.
 
The 84th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic is Saturday, Dec. 28 at 11 a.m. CST on ESPN. Kickoff is slated for 11:05 a.m.
 
Leading into the two College Football Playoff semifinal broadcasts, this year's Classic is a part of the ESPN bowl lineup for the sixth straight year. Mark Jones and Dusty Dvoracek are set to the call the action from the booth with Olivia Dekker reporting from the sidelines.
 
ESPN Radio returns as the Classic's national radio partner for the eighth consecutive year with Brad Sham and Jordan Rodgers in the booth and Kris Budden on the sidelines to describe all the action from AT&T Stadium.