CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1990 Penn State

9–⁠3, coached by Joe Paterno, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 1990, game by game: lost vs. Texas 13–17; lost at No. 6 USC 14–19; won vs. Rutgers 28–0; won vs. Temple 48–10; won vs. Syracuse 27–21; won at Boston College 40–21; won at Alabama 9–0; won at West Virginia 31–19; won vs. Maryland 24–10; won at No. 1 Notre Dame 24–21; won vs. Pittsburgh 22–17; lost vs. No. 6 Florida State 17–24+38−7Lost 13–17 vs. Texas-4TexasLost 14–19 at No. 6 USC-5No. 6 USCWon 28–0 vs. Rutgers+28RutgersWon 48–10 vs. Temple+38TempleWon 27–21 vs. Syracuse+6SyracuseWon 40–21 at Boston College+19Boston CollegeWon 9–0 at Alabama+9AlabamaWon 31–19 at West Virginia+12West VirginiaWon 24–10 vs. Maryland+14MarylandWon 24–21 at No. 1 Notre Dame+3No. 1 Notre DameWon 22–17 vs. Pittsburgh+5PittsburghLost 17–24 vs. No. 6 Florida State-7No. 6 Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vsTexasL 13–⁠1775%
Sep 15at6USCL 14–⁠1928%
Sep 22vsRutgersW 28–⁠072%
Oct 6vsTempleW 48–⁠1080%
Oct 13vsSyracuseW 27–⁠2160%
Oct 20atBoston CollegeW 40–⁠2164%
Oct 27atAlabamaW 9–⁠042%
Nov 3atWest VirginiaW 31–⁠1960%
Nov 10vsMarylandW 24–⁠1082%
Nov 17at1Notre DameW 24–⁠2132%
Nov 24vsPittsburghW 22–⁠1785%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs6Florida StateBlockbuster BowlL 17–⁠2442%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida State 24–⁠17 in the Blockbuster Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll.

In program history: The 31st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 21
  2. Wk 2: 21
  3. Wk 10: 24
  4. Wk 11: 21
  5. Wk 12: 18
  6. Wk 13: 11
  7. Wk 14: 10
  8. Wk 15: 7
  9. Final: 11

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1990.

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠0 first in the Major eastern college football independents (Wikipedia)
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 7
Points
297–⁠179
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1706 +95 this season
SP+ rating
20.7 No. 14 of 104; offense No. 30, defense No. 2
SRS
15.4 No. 16 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator
Jerry Sandusky
Captains
Matt McCartin, Willie Thomas and Leroy Thompson
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1991

The 1991 draft
Rd 3David Daniels WRSeattle Seahawks
Rd 6Leroy Thompson RBPittsburgh Steelers