The Bill O'Brien era is over (quickly) in Happy Valley and now a new one begins with James Franklin. The 2014 Penn State Nittany Lions Schedule is listed below, which begins in Ireland with a game against UCF.

James Franklin will win at Penn State. O'Brien was able to win games by just looking to change the culture around there. In his two years, which no doubt were the darkest in Penn State's history, O'Brien won 15 games but bolted for greener pastures in the NFL. Some say he was always destined to end up back there anyway. In his two years at Penn State he was able to somewhat stabilize the program that was losing players left and right. But many still stuck around and Penn State, albeit still on a bowl ban, is a team that can win some football games this season.

There isn't a lot of depth on the squad, but they do have solid players. Sophomore QB Christian Hackenberg showed a lot of poise and growth last year, proving he can play major college football at a high level.

Penn State will look to continue to be a balanced offense under Franklin, running the rock with Zach Zwinak despite having a re-tooled offensive line. 

If the defense can play well, Penn State will win football games this season. Franklin will continue to build solid recruiting classes and it won't be long before the Nittany Lions escape the shadow of a past terror and begin to rebuild its image.

2014 Penn State Nittany Lions Schedule

Aug. 30    UCF (in Dublin, Ireland)

Sept. 6     Akron

Sept. 13   at Rutgers

Sept. 20   Massachusetts

Sept. 27   Northwestern

Oct. 4        Bye week

Oct. 11      at Michigan

Oct. 18     Bye week

Oct. 25     Ohio State

Nov. 1      Maryland

Nov. 8      at Indiana

Nov. 15    Temple

Nov. 22    at Illinois

Nov. 29    Michigan State

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