Penn State to Open 2014 Season in Ireland

July 19, 2013 in events

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It’s official! Confirming previous reports, Penn State announced this morning that the football team will open the 2014 season in Dublin, Ireland at Croke Park. As part of the “Croke Park Classic”, Penn State will play the University of Central Florida on August 30, 2014.

“We are thrilled to announce that we will play UCF at Croke Park to open the 2014 season.” said Bill O’Brien. “Our players and coaches are so excited to go to Ireland and play a college football game in such a historic and outstanding venue. I have great respect for Coach O’Leary and his team and playing UCF in Ireland will be a fantastic experience for all the players, coaches, and fans.”

Penn State was originally scheduled to play Temple on the same date, but that game will be moved until November 15, which was previously an off-week for the Nittany Lions.

Historic Croke Park was first opened in 1913 and is the headquarters of the Gaelic Games. It serves as the fourth largest stadium in Europe and is the largest not used by a professional soccer team. Capacity will be 69,000 for the football game.

The Croke Classic will kick off at 1:20 p.m. in Dublin (8:30 a.m. ET) and air on ESPN2. Penn State will be the first Big Ten Conference team to play internationally since Michigan State and Wisconsin met in Tokyo in 1993.

Read the full article from Onward State…