Blue White Illustrated

P O S T G A M E R E P O R T W E E K 1 P E N N S T A T E 2 6 , U C F 2 4 A U G U S T 3 0 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m THE GAME AT A GLANCE GOOD NEWSTake your pick: Christian Hackenberg threw for a school-record 454 yards, DaeSean Hamilton looked as though he's ready to help fill the void at WR, the run defense was stout, and Sam Ficken lived up to all of James Franklin's off-season praise, going 4 for 4 includ- ing the winner on the final play of the game. BAD NEWS Justin Holman found a few soft spots in PSU's defense, completing 9 of 14 for 204 yards after relieving an in- effective Pete DiNovo early in the third quarter. Had Holman started, it might have been a whole differ- ent ball game. THE TAKEAWAY Hackenberg and company showed great poise at the end, driving the offense into field goal range to set up Ficken's win- ning kick and get the Franklin era started with a victory. 1 CELEBRATION Franklin hugs Ficken after the senior kicker booted a 36-yard field goal to beat UCF. N A T E   B A U E R | N B A U E R @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m Finishing kick Sam Ficken lifts the Nittany Lions to a season-opening victory DUBLIN – Christian Hackenberg's record-set- ting 454 passing yards weren't enough for Penn State. Limiting UCF to only 11 first downs and 24 net yards rushing wasn't enough to get it done, either. As dominating as the Nittany Lions' sea- son-opening effort against the Knights appeared in person and on paper, late-game heroics would be necessary. Owning a lead from the first quarter until the final minute at Croke Park on Saturday aBernoon, the Nittany Lions needed four Sam Ficken field goals – including a 36-yarder as time expired – to earn a thrilling 26-24 win in front of 53,304 fans. "We didn't play the prettiest game today. We did the things that you typically can't do: We had too many penalties, and we had turnovers," head coach James Franklin said. "But the more impor- tant thing is these guys never stopped believing

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