UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State is heading to New York City for the first time since 1947, as the Nittany Lions will meet old rival Boston College in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 27.
The Nittany Lions and Eagles were selected today for their 24th all-time meeting and Penn State's 45th bowl appearance. The teams last met in 2004. The New Era Pinstripe Bowl will kick at 4:30 p.m. ET in Yankee Stadium (49,542). The game will air on ESPN, the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com.
"We are thrilled to be facing Boston College in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl," said Sandy Barbour, Penn State Director of Athletics. "The Pinstripe Bowl brings together three great brands in Penn State, the New York Yankees and New Era in one of the world's truly great cities. The Pinstripe Bowl will provide thousands of Penn Staters particularly in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, an opportunity to support the 2014 Nittany Lions one more time and take in all that New York City has to offer during the holidays. I'm particularly pleased that our senior football student athletes will have a chance to play in a bowl game, and that as a community we will have one more opportunity to honor and thank them. I can't wait to gather in New York with the Penn State faithful."
"We are very excited and appreciative to be going to New York City to play in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl," head coach James Franklin said. "Penn State has a long and storied bowl history and we look forward to another opportunity to keep our family together. I am so happy for our players, especially the seniors, for this chance to play together one more time. The thing that makes Penn State special is the people, and we can't wait to see our alumni and fans storming New York and filling Yankee Stadium on December 27."
As a benefit of membership, Nittany Lion Club members can log onto Account Manager at: GoPSUsports.com/bowlcentral to request tickets to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Nittany Lion Club and Penn State Alumni Association members can call 1-800-NITTANY, Monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., to request New Era Pinstripe Bowl tickets. NLC and PSAA members have until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9 to request their bowl tickets.
In his first year as the Nittany Lions' head coach and fourth year as an FBS head coach, Franklin will be leading a team to a bowl game for the fourth consecutive season, winning his last two.
Penn State and Boston College first met in 1949, a 32-14 Nittany Lions win in State College, and the Eagles won the last meeting, 21-7, in 2004 in Alumni Stadium. Penn State leads the series, 19-4, including a 2-1 mark in neutral site games (all in Foxboro, Mass.). The former Eastern independents played every season from 1981-92. The teams played a home-and-home series in 2003-04 and the Eagles will bring a three-game series winning streak into the Pinstripe Bowl clash.
The New Era Pinstripe Bowl is in its fifth year of being played and its first in an eight-year tie-in with the Big Ten Conference. Penn State is the first Big Ten team to appear in the Pinstripe Bowl. Boston College is making its first Pinstripe Bowl appearance as well.
Penn State (6-6) will be making its 45th bowl appearance all-time, tied for No. 9 nationally. The Nittany Lions' 27 on-field post-season victories are tied for No. 4 nationally with Georgia and Texas, and lead all Big Ten Conference institutions. Penn State's 63.6 on-field winning percentage in bowl games (27-15-2 record) is No. 3 nationally among teams with at least 20 post-season appearances. USC (66.7) and Ole Miss (65.7) are the only schools with a better bowl winning percentage than Penn State.
Penn State has won four of its last seven bowl appearances, with victories in the 2006 FedEx Orange Bowl (Florida State), 2007 Outback Bowl (Tennessee), 2007 Alamo Bowl (Texas A&M) and 2010 Capital One Bowl (LSU). The losses came in the 2009 Rose Bowl (USC), 2011 Outback Bowl (Florida) and 2012 TicketCity Bowl (Houston).
The Nittany Lions will be playing in New York City for the eighth time overall and the first time since a 75-0 win against Fordham at the Polo Grounds during its unbeaten 1947 season. Penn State played twice in the old Yankee Stadium, tying West Virginia, 13-13, in 1923, and falling to Georgia Tech, 16-7, in 1925.
The Nittany Lions also played four games in the Polo Grounds, facing Georgia Tech in 1921 (28-7), Syracuse in 1922 (0-0), NYU in 1941 (42-0) and Fordham in 1947. Penn State also lost at NYU, 7-0, in 1929. Penn State also has an 11-3 record in games played at New Jersey's Meadowlands Sports Complex, with a 10-3 mark at Giants Stadium and 1-0 record at MetLife Stadium, opening the 2013 season with a 23-17 win over Syracuse.
Led by senior All-America candidate Mike Hull (Canonsburg), the Big Ten Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year, the Penn State defense is ranked in the Top 10 nationally in all of the primary statistical categories: rushing defense (1st, 84.8 ypg), total defense (2nd, 269.8 ypg), scoring defense (8th, 17.7 ppg), pass efficiency defense (2nd, 99.71) and third down conversion pct. defense (6th, .301). The Nittany Lions are No. 1 in the Big Ten in rushing, total, scoring and pass efficiency defense.
The Big Ten's leading tackler with 134, Hull and junior defensive tackle Anthony Zettel (West Branch, Mich.) were selected first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media. Senior placekicker Sam Ficken (Valparaiso, Ind.) and freshman wideout DaeSean Hamilton (Fredericksburg, Va.), the Big Ten's leading receiver, earned second-team all-conference accolades.
The Nittany Lions' offense is led by quarterback Christian Hackenberg, the 2013 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, who ranks in the Penn State career top five for passing yards, completions and total offense after just 24 career games.
In his second season in Chestnut Hill, head coach Steve Addazio has led Boston College to consecutive 7-5 regular season records after the Eagles were 2-10 in 2012. The Eagles finished 7-6 last year, with a loss to Arizona in the Independence Bowl, and were 4-4 in the ACC in 2014 for the second consecutive season. Boston College defeated then No. 9 USC, 37-31, posted ACC road wins over North Carolina State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest and lost, 20-17, at unbeaten Florida State on Nov. 22. The Eagles beat Syracuse, 28-7, in their regular season finale.
Addazio was the head coach at Temple in 2011-12, with Penn State capturing 14-10 and 24-13 wins over the Owls those two seasons, respectively.
Penn State is 149-86-10 all-time against the schools who are current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, having played every ACC school except Duke and Virginia Tech. The most recent meeting with an ACC team was the Nittany Lions' win over Syracuse in the 2013 season opener at MetLife Stadium.
The Nittany Lions are 3-2-1 vs. ACC teams in bowl games, with the most recent meeting resulting a 26-23 Penn State triple overtime win over Florida State in the 2006 FedEx Orange Bowl. Penn State has faced Clemson (0-1), Florida State (1-1-1), Georgia Tech (1-0) and Miami, Fla. (1-0) in post-season contests.
The Nittany Lions vs. ACC teams: Boston College (19-4), Clemson (0-1) Florida State (1-1-1), Georgia Tech (4-3), Louisville (2-0), Miami (7-6), North Carolina (0-1), North Carolina State (17-2), Pittsburgh (50-42-4), Syracuse (43-23-5), Virginia (5-3) and Wake Forest (1-0).
Seven Nittany Lions hail from metropolitan New York City: cornerback Jordan Lucas (New Rochelle, N.Y.), guard Brendan Mahon (Randolph, N.J.), center Angelo Mangiro (Roxbury, N.J.), cornerback Jesse Merise (Hillside, N.J.), defensive end Garrett Sickels (Red Bank, N.J.), safety Anthony Smith (Dover, N.J.) and linebacker Evan Stenfield (Short Hills, N.J.).
As a benefit of membership, Nittany Lion Club members can log onto Account Manager at: GoPSUsports.com/bowlcentral to request tickets to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. Nittany Lion Club members also can call 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., to request bowl tickets. NLC members have until 5 p.m. on Dec. 9 to request their bowl tickets. All NLC ticket requests received by this date and time will be allocated based on NLC point totals. The ability to request tickets does not guarantee a Nittany Lion Club member will receive tickets from Penn State's allotment.
As a benefit of membership, Penn State Alumni Association members will be able to request Pinstripe Nowl tickets on Dec. 8-9 by calling 1-800-NITTANY from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visiting the Bryce Jordan Center Ticket office from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. The ability to request tickets does not guarantee an Alumni Association member will receive tickets from Penn State's allotment.
Should any tickets from Penn State's bowl allotment remain available after the Nittany Lion Club and Alumni Association sales, the public can purchase bowl tickets starting at 10 a.m. on December 10 at GoPSUsports.com/bowlcentral or 1-800-NITTANY.
Student tickets for the New Era Pinstripe Bowl will be available via a walk-up sale at the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office at a time and date to be announced. Student Nittany Lion Club members will receive priority for ticket purchase and location. There will be a two (2) ticket limit per student ID and tickets can be purchased with cash and credit card.
Students interested in buying bowl tickets should check Student Central (GoPSUsports.com/studentcentral) this week for the date and time of the sale. Tickets will be issued at the time of purchase.
Information on the New Era Pinstripe Bowl and all related events can be found on the bowl's website: www.pinstripebowl.com.