Nov. 23, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State's final game of the regular season, against No. 11 Michigan State on Nov. 29, will kick at 3:30 p.m. kick and be a split national telecast on ABC, with coverage on ESPN2 in the rest of the nation.
Coverage of Penn State's Senior Day game will begin at 2:00 p.m. on the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com.
Coach James Franklin's Nittany Lions (6-5) and the Spartans (9-2) will be meeting for the first time since 2010, with the winner claiming the Land Grant Trophy.
Tickets are available for the Michigan State game at PSUnrivaled.com, calling 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or at the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office (weekdays, 10 a.m-6 p.m.). The Beaver Stadium ticket office, near Gate E, opens four hours before kickoff for all Penn State home games and will open at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 29.
A special group of Penn State seniors will be introduced to the Beaver Stadium faithful in a pre-game ceremony that annually is one of the highlights of the season. The 2014 seniors have been instrumental in the Nittany Lions earning a 30-18 on-field record the past four years under unprecedented circumstances, with three winning seasons and an opportunity for a fourth during their careers.
A total of 17 seniors will be playing their final home game vs. Michigan State, including co-captains Jesse Della Valle (Pittsburgh), Miles Dieffenbach (Pittsburgh), Sam Ficken (Valparaiso, Ind.), Mike Hull (Canonsburg) and C.J. Olaniyan (Warren, Mich.).
The other seniors who will be playing their final game in Beaver Stadium are: Adrian Amos (Baltimore), Deshawn Baker (Philadelphia), Brad Bars (Nashville, Tenn.), Bill Belton (Sicklerville, N.J.), Drew Boyce (Olathe, Kan.), Jesse Merise (Hillside, N.J.), Devin Pryor (San Bernardino, Calif.), T.J. Rhattigan (Naperville, Ill.), Tyrone Smith (Pittsburgh) and Deron Thompson (Lititz).
The 2014 senior class also includes co-captain Ryan Keiser (Selinsgrove) and Zach Zwinak (Frederick, Md.), who suffered season-ending injuries in October.
Penn State and Michigan State will be meeting for the 29th time. The Nittany Lions hold a 14-13-1 on-field edge in the series, which began in 1914. The teams met in the season finale every year from 1993-2010, with the Spartans winning, 28-22, in Beaver Stadium in the last meeting in 2010. The Nittany Lions and Spartans are Big Ten East Division rivals and will resume playing annually starting this year, with the 2015 meeting set for the Nov. 28 season finale in East Lansing.
Penn State will be making its eighth appearance of the season on an ESPN network when it hosts Michigan State. Every Penn State football game has been televised the past 10 seasons and 252 of the last 254 contests overall have been on TV. All Penn State football and men's and women's basketball games air on the Penn State Sports Network and www.GoPSUsports.com.
Penn State football average home attendance is up 5,870 per game this fall compared to the first six games of 2013, for an average of 101,909 this season. The Nittany Lions rank No. 4 in average home attendance nationally through games of Nov. 22. More than 6,000 new Penn State football season tickets and nearly 80,000 single game and group tickets have been sold this year.
The Beaver Stadium parking lots will open at 8 a.m. for the Michigan State game, with the team arrival at approximately 1:00 p.m. The public gates will open at 2:00 p.m.
Penn State is eligible to participate in its 45th bowl game. For information on the Nittany Lions' possible bowl destinations and tickets, visit GoPSUsports.com/bowlcentral. Nittany Lion Club members can request bowl tickets at Bowl Central or by calling 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. All of the bowl match-ups will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 7. Should any tickets from Penn State's bowl allotment remain after Nittany Lion Club members make their requests, the public can buy bowl tickets from Penn State starting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at GoPSUsports.com/bowlcentral or 1-800-NITTANY.
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