Well the first Saturday of the 2014 college football season got off to a rousing start over in Dublin, Ireland as the Penn State Nittany Lions got the James Franklin era off to a victorious start, as they came back late in the game to defeat the UCF Knights, 26-24.
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After squandering the lead late in the fourth quarter, sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who etched his name in the Penn State record books on Saturday, led the team on an eight-play, 55-yard drive that was capped off by a 36-yard field goal by Sam Ficken to give the Lions the win.
But a lot of this winning effort for Penn State was due to the fact that, in his first game as a sophomore, Hackenberg placed his name in the Happy Valley record books, becoming the first Penn State signal-caller to throw for over 400 yards in a game, finishing the contest with 454 yards on 32-of-47 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions.
And for everyone who assumed that the Lions and Hackenberg would be in trouble in the wide receiver department without Allen Robinson, Penn State had two wideouts finish with over 100 yards on the day, with Geno Lewis finishing up with 173 yards on eight catches with a touchdown, and DaeSean Hamilton recording 165 yards on 11 catches.
It was a valiant effort for UCF, though, who fought back, once they made a switch at quarterback.
After anointed starter Pete DiNovo underwhelmed, George O’Leary brought in Justin Holman, who finished with 204 yards on 9-of-14 passing, including one passing score, plus a rushing touchdown that put his team up late in the fourth quarter, before the winning drive by the Lions.
But on this day, it was the leg of Sam Ficken and the arm of Christian Hackenberg that led the Lions to the win.