Saturday, August 30, 2014

Bright House Networks Stadium in Orlando

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Ex-Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin be on the sidelines for the first time as coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions when they visit the UCF Knights on Saturday night. UCF won this matchup 34-31 early on last season.

Penn State finished their 2013 season with a 7-5 record, including going 4-4 in the Big Ten. They were in the top 60 in the country both passing and running the ball, but they scored just 28.7 points per game, which was 70th in the nation.

Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg will be looking to build off of his solid freshman season in which he threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns. Running backs Zach Zwinak and Bill Belton, who combined for nearly 1,800 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground, will also be back, which should mean that Penn State's offense will be better in 2014.

UCF impressed just about everyone last season by finishing 8-0 in the American Athletic Conference and a 12-1 overall record. They capped off their year with a 52-42 win over Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl. The Knights gave up just 21.3 points per game in 2013, which made them the 17th best defense in the country.

The Knights will be returning 15 members of their 2013 team, including wide receiver Rannell Hall, who had 57 receptions for 886 yards and three touchdowns.

Injuries to Watch

Penn State Nittany Lions

08/11/14 RE Adam Breneman Undisclosed out indefinitely
08/02/14 LB Ben Kline Achilles out indefinitely
08/02/14 C Miles Dieffenbach Knee out indefinitely

UCF Knights

No injuries to report at this time

Josh's Pick: Take Penn State

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