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28 times, with eight of those matchups taking place before the Lions joined the conference. Penn State and Michigan first played in '93 and have met 16 times, but not since 2010. The teams will resume their rivalry Oct. 12 in Penn State's 94th Homecoming game at 5 p.m. The Lions and Hoosiers also first met in 1993 and have faced each other 16 times, the past two times as division rivals. Penn State and Maryland first met in 1917 and have played 37 times, with the most recent meeting taking place in '93 in College Park, Md. The last meeting in Beaver Stadium was in 1992. From 1960 to '93, the Lions and Terrapins played every year except 1976, '81 and '83. The Lions and Rutgers first met in 1918 and have played 24 times, with the most recent contest taking place in '95 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The last meeting in Beaver Stadium was in '94. From 1977 to '95, the Lions and Scarlet Knights played every season except in '80 and '81. THE MONTH IN... BLOGS OPINIONS ATHLETICS PSU ranks third in Directors' Cup Following a successful winter sports campaign, highlighted by its third consecutive NCAA wrestling championship, Penn State has moved up to No. 3 in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings. The Nittany Lions earned their eighth consecutive top-five finish in the final winter standings, finishing in the top five for the 15th time in the 20 years the Directors' Cup has been tabulated. Penn State was No. 8 in the 2012 final fall standings. Penn State has 857.00 total points, with 533.50 coming from NCAA winter championships. Michigan leads the Directors' Cup competition with 914.25 points. Stanford, which has won 18 consecutive Directors' Cup titles, is second with 902.75 points, followed by Penn State (857.00), Florida (748.50) and Notre Dame (743.0). A unit that returns three starters on the offensive line and is loaded with playmakers at the skill positions could quickly be derailed without a competent signal-caller and having Hackenberg carrying a clipboard on the sidelines will not help. O'Brien made the calculated decision to choose upside over the candidate who had been in the system for a season. It leaves him with one less option and devoid of any who have ever spent a fall season in major college football. In an ironic twist, Hackenberg has the longest relationship with O'Brien despite having yet to participate in a formal practice. DREW BALIS ONWARDSTATE.COM Clearly, Bench was headed for likely back-up status. The prospect of a transfer was immediately on the table and both parties knew it. O'Brien's early heads-up will give Bench vital time to find a place where he better fits in. But it also was a gut punch to a young man whose perseverance and ambition had always carried him through in athletics. Whose dream as so many thousands of others' was an NFL career. Here was an acknowledged guru of the right stuff for NFL quarterbacks telling him he was third in a 3-horse college race. DAVID JONES THE (HARRISBURG) PATRIOT-NEWS Quite suddenly, it appears that one of the nation's top high school quarterbacks will not even have the option of redshirting this fall to gain experience. Rather, he will begin dueling with junior college transfer Tyler Ferguson as soon as he arrives on campus in five or six weeks. Now the question will be debated even more hotly: Can coach Bill O'Brien's complicated offense be run effectively by a true freshman? FRANK BODANI YORK DAILY RECORD QUOTES TWEETS We like the fact that [Jordan Hill] brings something that's counter to what we have. We've been trying to get more activity inside for pass rush and this is a guy that we thought was one of the best guys in the draft at creating space for himself in the pass rush. PETE CARROLL SEATTLE SEAHAWKS HEAD COACH I think it should be illegal for me and Mauti to be on the same team again but hey I don't make the rules we just abide by them!!!! @G_HODGES6 (GERALD HODGES)

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