by Fitzgerald Cecilio

Dublin, Ireland

Penn State University will play its first international game in its 127-year history against the University of Central Florida at Croke Park in central Dublin on Aug. 30, 2014.

The match, coined as the Croke Park Classic, opens the 2014 season for both teams.

Penn State athletic director Dave Joyner and UCF head coach George O'Leary were in Ireland for the announcement.

O'Leary called the game "a great opportunity for UCF" and touched on the mutual Irish ancestry of he and Penn State coach Bill O'Brien, who said the team was "thrilled" for the chance to play overseas.

The UCF coach added that the game in Ireland also provides a chance for their school to grow the exposure of its football program.

The contest will be the eighth American football game played in Ireland and first in Croke Park since Notre Dame and Navy played there in 1996. It's also the first overseas game for a Big Ten team since Michigan State and Wisconsin played in Tokyo in the 1993 season finale.

Because of the sanctions and bowl ban posed by the NCAA, O'Brien has emphasized for awhile now that PSU would find a sort of replacement in the regular season. There were talks about Hawaii as a possible destination, until Ireland became anoption.

The announcement was anticipated for months.

 

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"Penn State to Play UCF in Ireland"