Blue White Illustrated

And his offensive coordinator is look- ing forward to using the struggles – and successes – from the 2014 season to serve as a launch pad for the 2015 sea- son. "This season for a lot of guys, includ- ing myself, including [Hackenberg], is going to help tremendously as [we go] forward, because as we all know and Coach Franklin always says, life is not easy," Donovan said. "When you have to go through tough times and tough expe- riences, you've got to fight through it. "And we had to fight through some stuff this year." They'll have to fight through more next year, too. And it'll be without one of their quarterbacks, although the depart- ing player evidently won't be Hacken- berg. – TIM OWEN ning back Akeel Lynch wearing a solid black uniform with pink num- bers and a black helmet complete with a pink stripe down the center. It didn't stop there. Head coach James Franklin caught a glimpse of OS's design, and said, "I saw the uniforms that people had created online, and they look really cool." Asked about the possibility that his team might someday wear some- thing similar – gasp, another uni- form change – Franklin responded that an alternate, such as a pink- and-black throwback, could be in the cards. "I think the basketball team has done it and had some success, so hopefully that opens up the possibil- ity of [wearing something similar]," Franklin said. "But I don't know. People feel pretty strongly about the Penn State football uniforms, so you've got to be careful there. The other thing is that typically with uniform [design], you are working with Nike, [and] that's something that usually takes about a year and a half to two years to get done. I think it's an interesting idea, especially if you can match it up with breast can- cer awareness." – T.O. Penn State has had its ups and downs on the 8eld the past few months, but its regular season was a success at the gate, as the team's ticket sales surpassed last year's to- tal by more than 35,000. The Nittany Lions' total home at- tendance this season was 711,358, for an average of 101,623 per game. In 2013, the total home attendance was 676,112, an average of 96,587 per contest. That works out to an in- crease of 5,036 fans per game (5 per- cent). The Lions' per-game increase ranks No. 11 nationally among FBS schools whose stadiums did not ex- pand prior to this season, according to NCAA attendance 8gures through Nov. 29. Penn State's average in- crease is 89h-highest among teams in the Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC whose stadiums did not ex- pand this year. "Our attendance success is direct- ly attributable to the outstanding fan base that has long supported Penn State football," said Tom McGrath, associate athletic director for busi- ness relations and communications. "To be continually ranked in the top 8ve nationally means a great deal to our student-athletes and coaches. The game day atmosphere in Happy Valley continues to be an attractive opportunity for our fans to socialize and cheer on the Nittany Lions. This only happens because our alumni, students and fans are so passionate and loyal." Beaver Stadium hosted four crowds in excess of 100,000 this season, topped by the sellout crowd of 107,895 for the Nittany Lions' double-overtime loss to Ohio State. During the 2012 and '13 seasons, the Nittany Lions had one crowd above 100,000 each season. More than 6,000 new season tick- ets, 1,200 partial season tickets and 80,000 single-game and group-sale tickets were sold for the 2014 season. The Big Ten broke its single-sea- son record for total attendance dur- ing the 2014 season with 6,359,218 fans attending home games. In addi- tion, nine Big Ten schools produced increases in average attendance this year compared to 2013. FOOTBALL Nittany Lions see growth in ticket sales for home games Patrick Mansell

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