Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526526
1 6 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 8 Goals by Kaitlyn MacBean in the Penn State women's soccer team's first seven games of the season. The redshirt senior forward from Excelsior, Minn., scored all of the Nittany Lions' goals in a 3-1 victory over West Virginia on Aug. 29, setting a career-high and notching the 25th hat trick in program history. She followed that performance by scoring both goals in a 2-1 win at Saint Louis on Sept. 1. Heading into Penn State's Big Ten opener against Michigan on Sept. 12, MacBean was one of three players tied for second place in Division I in goals scored, and she shared the conference lead with Minnesota's Khyah Harper. 10th James Franklin's rank among active FBS coaches in tenure at his current job. Franklin was hired Jan. 11, 2014, putting him just be- hind Dave Clawson, who took charge of Wake Forest's program 33 days earlier. The longest-tenured active coach in the FBS is Kirk Ferentz, who just began his 26th campaign at Iowa and is under contract through the 2029 season. 15-0 The Penn State football team's record since 2022 in games in which it has forced multiple turnovers. The Nittany Lions had three takeaways in their season-opening 34- 12 victory at West Virginia — 2 fumble recoveries and an interception. A week later, they had 2 interceptions in a 34- 27 victory over Bowling Green. 28 Consecutive games in which Penn State did not allow the op- posing team to score a touchdown on its opening possession. It was the longest streak in the nation until Bowling Green snapped it on Sept. 7. The Nittany Lions gave up an opening-drive touchdown at Michigan State in their 2021 regular- season finale, a game that the Spartans went on to win, 30-27. No opponent had been able to replicate that feat until Bowling Green's Harold Fannin Jr. caught a 6-yard touchdown pass in PSU's 2024 home opener. 46-1 Penn State's record during the James Franklin coach- ing era in games that it has led by 10 or more points at halftime. The Nittany Lions won this year's opener at West Virginia after taking a 14-point lead into the locker room. The only loss in that span is a 39-38 defeat at Ohio State in 2017, a game that Penn State led by 11 points at halftime. 73.3 percent Increase since last year in the cost of a "game-day experience" at Penn State, per Oddspedia.com. The website bases its calculations on the cost of two tick- ets, two beers, two sodas, two hotdogs and parking. Penn State's total for the 2024 season is $227, making it one of three teams nationally with an increase of more than 70 percent. The others are Florida State (98.5) and Arizona (75). Even with the cost going up by $96 over last year, Penn State's total ranks 19th nationally and fourth in the Big Ten. According to Oddspedia, the most expensive game day experience in the country is UCLA, with a total cost of $298. Other Big Ten teams ahead of Penn State are Purdue (10th, $240) and Michi- gan State (17th, $229). By The Numbers 139 minutes Length of the weather delay at halftime of Penn State's visit to West Virginia. The two teams spent nearly two and a half hours in their respective areas waiting out the thunderstorms that swept through Morgantown on Aug. 31. Because of the small size of the visitor's locker room at Milan Pus- kar Stadium, Penn State set up a makeshi lounge in a tunnel lead- ing onto the field. "I thought that was helpful," James Franklin said. "And we had plenty of food. We knew that this was a possibility, and we were able to get ahead of it from that standpoint." PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS