On December 1st, another round of tickets will be released for the Croke Park Classic, taking place on 30th August 2014 between the UCF Knights and Penn State. As the collegiate American football season heads into its final weekend of games state side, UCF just need one win to clinch a share of the American Conference title. The Knights have had just one loss this season and continue to rise in the ratings poll ranking #17 going into their final games. This is the highest ranking ever for the UCF Knights at this stage of the season.
UCF and Penn State will open their 2014 campaigns August 30 when they meet in the inaugural Croke Park Classic in Dublin, led by two of the most highly regarded college coaches. George O’Leary and Bill O’Brien have previously worked on the same staff at Georgia Tech.
Coach O’Leary has his squad playing at its highest level ever. He took over the program ten years ago and has rebuilt it from the ground up. The Knights’ two signature victories of the season were against previously undefeated and #8 ranked Louisville, which followed on the heels of their win in Beaver Stadium in September over the Penn State Nittany Lions. Coach O’Leary has his team headed toward their most outstanding season in history.
Coach Bill O’Brien got his Penn State team back on track earlier this month by dominating the Purdue University Boilermakers 45-21 in front of more than 96,000 fans at home in Happy Valley. PSU, playing in the Big 10 Conference currently has a record of 6-5, including their four-overtime cliff hanger win over Michigan in mid-October. Their final game is against Wisconsin on 30 November, as the young squad focuses on finishing strong.
So not only will the 2014 Croke Park Classic feature the O’Leary-O’Brien matchup, but also the on-field passing combinations of Hackenberg to Robinson for Penn State vs Bortles to Worton for Central Florida. It’s shaping up to be a great battle of these two giants of American College Football in Dublin next year. This big season opener will also be the first time that UCF and Penn State have played outside the United States.
From December 1st, you can pick up tickets from ticketmaster.ie and tickets.ie with prices starting from €20. For more information about the Croke Park Classic, check out www.crokeparkclassic.ie, follow the event on twitter @CrokePkClassic and facebook.com/crokeparkclassic for news and updates. You can also follow us on twitter @iafaireland and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/iafaireland