*** Welcome to piglix ***

2014 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

2014 Penn State Nittany Lions football
Penn State Athletics wordmark.svg
Pinstripe Bowl champion
Pinstripe Bowl, W 31–30 OT vs. Boston College
Conference Big Ten Conference
Division East Division
2014 record 7–6 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach James Franklin (1st year)
Offensive coordinator John Donovan (1st year)
Offensive scheme Multiple
Defensive coordinator Bob Shoop (1st year)
Base defense 4–3
Captain Miles Dieffenbach, Christian Hackenberg, Mike Hull, C.J. Olaniyan, Ryan Keiser, Jesse Della Valle, Sam Ficken
Home stadium Beaver Stadium
(Capacity: 106,572)
Seasons
← 2013
2015 →
2014 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
East Division
#1 Ohio State x$#^   8 0         14 1  
#5T Michigan State   7 1         11 2  
Maryland   4 4         7 6  
Rutgers   3 5         8 5  
Michigan   3 5         5 7  
Penn State   2 6         7 6  
Indiana   1 7         4 8  
West Division
#13 Wisconsin x   7 1         11 3  
Minnesota   5 3         8 5  
Nebraska   5 3         9 4  
Iowa   4 4         7 6  
Illinois   3 5         6 7  
Northwestern   3 5         5 7  
Purdue   1 7         3 9  
Championship: Ohio State 59, Wisconsin 0
  • # – College Football Playoff champion
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
As of January 13, 2015; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2014 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented Pennsylvania State University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by first year head-coach James Franklin and played its home games in Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. It was a member of the Big Ten Conference and played in the newly organized East Division. Penn State was ineligible to play in a bowl game due to NCAA sanctions imposed in wake of the Penn State child sex abuse scandal. However, on September 8, 2014, the NCAA announced that Penn State would again be eligible for post-season games, effective immediately. Penn State had a 7–6 overall record for the season with a 2–6 conference mark, placing sixth in the Big Ten East Division. The Nittany Lions concluded the season with a victory in the Pinstripe Bowl over Boston College.

Penn State's opening week depth chart:




Note: Though the game was held at a neutral site, Penn State wore white uniforms and was considered the away team.

"UCF should wax 'em good."

When the two teams met in the preceding season, UCF downed Penn State 34–31. However, both teams experienced significant changes since the game, most notably for UCF, the loss of their quarterback Blake Bortles, who chose to forgo his final season of college football and enter the 2014 NFL Draft. Consequently, UCF had to find a new quarterback, and auditioned several candidates before ultimately settling on Peter DiNovo, a redshirt freshman. Aside from the coaching change in which James Franklin replaced Bill O'Brien, perhaps Penn State's biggest on-field change was the improvement of their defensive secondary, which was a major contributing factor to their loss in 2013, but was expected to be a strength in the 2014 matchup. In regards to predicting the outcome of the game, ESPN analyst Lee Corso made headlines when he predicted UCF would "wax" Penn State. Three of four panelists from the Big Ten Network predicted Penn State would emerge victorious, while a panel of college football writers from ESPN were split on who the victor would be, with three selecting Penn State and two selecting UCF.


...
Wikipedia

...