June 9, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
The Penn State football team has placed 10 players on Phil Steele's 2014 College Football Preview All-Big Ten teams.
Headlining the 10 Nittany Lions are four second-team selections: senior safety Adrian Amos (Baltimore, Md.), senior linebacker Mike Hull (Canonsburg), junior cornerback Jordan Lucas (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and junior offensive tackle Donovan Smith (Owings Mills, Md.).
Earning Phil Steele's third-team honors were senior placekicker Sam Ficken (Valparaiso, Ind.), sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg (Palmyra, Va.) and senior defensive end C.J. Olaniyan (Warren, Mich.).
Also earning pre-season All-Big Ten honors were junior defensive end Deion Barnes (Philadelphia), junior tight end Jesse James (Glassport) and senior running back Zach Zwinak (Frederick, Md.). All three players earned fourth-team accolades from Phil Steele's College Football Preview.
Hackenberg was selected the 2013 Big Ten Thompson-Randel El Freshman of the Year and a consensus second-team Freshman All-American. James, Lucas, Olaniyan and Smith earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten recognition last season.
James Franklin was named Penn State's 16th head football coach on January 11. A product of Langhorne, Pa., Franklin led Vanderbilt University to unprecedented success the past three years as head coach, including consecutive nine-win seasons and bowl victories the past two years, as well as back-to-back Top 25 finishes, all for the first time in Vanderbilt history. In his 20th year of coaching, Franklin was a two-time All-PSAC quarterback at East Stroudsburg University and set or tied 23 school records.
| Junior Offensive Tackle Donovan Smith |
More than 4,000 new Penn State football season tickets have been sold for the 2014 campaign. There again was no increase in season tickets prices for Penn State football for the upcoming season.
Fans are now able to purchase Penn State football season tickets and make their Nittany Lion Club donation online at GoPSUsports.com/seasontickets, while choosing their own seats by utilizing Virtual Venue. New season tickets also are available by calling 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Recent Graduate ticket program gives Penn State graduates who earned an undergraduate degree from 2010-14 at any campus the opportunity to purchase up to two season tickets for $300 per ticket for the seven-game home schedule this fall. The cost includes a $50 donation to the Nittany Lion Club and is a savings of 35 percent from the regular $460 season ticket price ($360 + $100 NLC donation).
More than 600 Recent Graduate program season tickets have been sold. Interested recent graduates can call 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Penn State returns 41 letterwinners and 15 starters (7 offense, 7 defense, 1 specialist) for the upcoming season and will play a trio of 2013 Top 10 teams this fall. The Nittany Lions will host Rose Bowl Champion Michigan State (Nov. 29), Ohio State (Oct. 25, 8 p.m.), Northwestern (Sept. 27-Homecoming, 12 p.m.) and Maryland (Nov. 1) during its 2014 Big Ten home schedule. Penn State will host Akron (Sept. 6), UMass (Sept. 20) and Temple (Nov. 15) during its non-conference slate.
The Nittany Lions open the season Aug. 30 vs. UCF in the Croke Park Classic in Dublin, Ireland.
Penn State Football is on Twitter (@PennStateFball) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/PSUFball).