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1993 Penn State

10–⁠2 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 1993, game by game: won vs. Minnesota 38–20; won vs. USC 21–20; won at Iowa 31–0; won vs. Rutgers 31–7; won at Maryland 70–7; lost vs. No. 18 Michigan 13–21; lost at No. 3 Ohio State 6–24; won vs. No. 17 Indiana 38–31; won vs. Illinois 28–14; won at Northwestern 43–21; won at No. 25 Michigan State 38–37; won vs. No. 6 Tennessee 31–13+63−18Won 38–20 vs. Minnesota+18MinnesotaWon 21–20 vs. USC+1USCWon 31–0 at Iowa+31IowaWon 31–7 vs. Rutgers+24RutgersWon 70–7 at Maryland+63MarylandLost 13–21 vs. No. 18 Michigan-8No. 18 MichiganLost 6–24 at No. 3 Ohio State-18No. 3 Ohio StateWon 38–31 vs. No. 17 Indiana+7No. 17 IndianaWon 28–14 vs. Illinois+14IllinoisWon 43–21 at Northwestern+22NorthwesternWon 38–37 at No. 25 Michigan State+1No. 25 Michigan StateWon 31–13 vs. No. 6 Tennessee+18No. 6 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsMinnesotaW 38–⁠2080%
Sep 11vsUSCW 21–⁠2067%
Sep 18atIowaW 31–⁠054%
Sep 25vsRutgersW 31–⁠773%
Oct 2atMarylandW 70–⁠777%
Oct 16vs18MichiganL 13–⁠2160%
Oct 30at3Ohio StateL 6–⁠2435%
Nov 6vs17IndianaW 38–⁠3164%
Nov 13vsIllinoisW 28–⁠1470%
Nov 20atNorthwesternW 43–⁠2182%
Nov 27at25Michigan StateW 38–⁠3759%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs6TennesseeCitrus BowlW 31–⁠1339%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Tennessee 31–⁠13 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 25th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 16
  2. Wk 2: 17
  3. Wk 3: 15
  4. Wk 4: 14
  5. Wk 5: 9
  6. Wk 6: 9
  7. Wk 7: 8
  8. Wk 8: 7
  9. Wk 9: 14
  10. Wk 10: 12
  11. Wk 11: 19
  12. Wk 12: 16
  13. Wk 13: 14
  14. Wk 14: 14
  15. Wk 15: 13
  16. Wk 16: 13
  17. Final: 8

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 1993.

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠2 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 7
Points
388–⁠215
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1717 +115 this season
SP+ rating
19.7 No. 16 of 105; offense No. 17, defense No. 27
SRS
17.1 No. 13 of 106 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator
Jerry Sandusky
Captains
Lou Benfatti, Mike Malinoski and Brian O’Neal
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1994

The 1994 draft
Rd 3Lou Benfatti DTNew York Jets
Rd 5Shelly Hammonds DBMinnesota Vikings
Rd 6Eric Ravotti LBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Rob Holmberg LBLos Angeles Raiders

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1993 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1993 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Wisconsin6–⁠1–⁠110–⁠1–⁠16
Ohio State6–⁠1–⁠110–⁠1–⁠111
Penn State6–⁠210–⁠28
Indiana5–⁠38–⁠4
Michigan5–⁠38–⁠421
Illinois5–⁠35–⁠6
Michigan State4–⁠46–⁠6
Iowa3–⁠56–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠54–⁠7
Northwestern0–⁠82–⁠9
Purdue0–⁠81–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.