Sept. 3, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Penn State Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour announced today that Army will visit Beaver Stadium on October 3, 2015. The Nittany Lions and the Black Knights will square off for the first time since 1979 and the 26th time overall.
The addition of the Army game completes Penn State's schedules from 2015-17. The Nittany Lions have one non-conference opponent to schedule to complete the 2018 slate. Penn State will play nine Big Ten Conference games annually starting in 2016 and have three non-conference contests.
Penn State has a 13-10-2 all-time record against Army. The squads last met in 1979 with Penn State posting a 24-3 victory on Homecoming. The first time the teams met was in 1899 when the Nittany Lions earned a 6-0 win.
Penn State defeated Navy on Sept. 15, 2012 in its most recent game against one of the U.S. service academies.
Long-time rivals Penn State and Pitt will meet every season from 2016-19. The Nittany Lions will play in Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2018 and the Panthers will play in State College in 2017 and 2019.
In addition to the Pitt series, Penn State is scheduled to play Virginia Tech for the first time in 2022 (away) and 2023 (home) and renew its rivalry with West Virginia in 2023 (home) and 2024 (away). The Nittany Lions also are scheduled to play Temple each of the next three seasons, including hosting the Owls on Nov. 15 for Military Appreciation Day.
James Franklin led the Nittany Lions to a thrilling 26-24 win over UCF in Dublin, Ireland last Saturday in his first game as Penn State's 16th head coach. Senior Sam Ficken connected on a 36-yard field goal as time expired to deliver the win. Ficken earned Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week laurels for his perfect 4-for-4 effort against the Knights. Sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg broke the Penn State record for passing yards (454) and total offense (456 yards) and was named Athlon Sports' Big Ten Player of the Week. The Nittany Lions held UCF to 24 rushing yards on 29 attempts.
Penn State opens its home slate against Akron at noon on Saturday in Beaver Stadium. The contest will air on ABC/ESPN2, the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com.
Nearly 6,000 new Penn State football season tickets and more than 50,000 single game tickets have been sold for the 2014 campaign. Alumni and fans are 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, the four-game partial ticket plan and single game also are available by calling 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.