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1994 Penn State

12–⁠0 (8–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno, finished No. 2 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 1994, game by game: won at Minnesota 56–3; won vs. No. 14 USC 38–14; won vs. Iowa 61–21; won vs. Rutgers 55–27; won at Temple 48–21; won at No. 5 Michigan 31–24; won vs. No. 21 Ohio State 63–14; won at Indiana 35–29; won at Illinois 35–31; won vs. Northwestern 45–17; won vs. Michigan State 59–31; won vs. No. 12 Oregon 38–20+53Won 56–3 at Minnesota+53MinnesotaWon 38–14 vs. No. 14 USC+24No. 14 USCWon 61–21 vs. Iowa+40IowaWon 55–27 vs. Rutgers+28RutgersWon 48–21 at Temple+27TempleWon 31–24 at No. 5 Michigan+7No. 5 MichiganWon 63–14 vs. No. 21 Ohio State+49No. 21 Ohio StateWon 35–29 at Indiana+6IndianaWon 35–31 at Illinois+4IllinoisWon 45–17 vs. Northwestern+28NorthwesternWon 59–31 vs. Michigan State+28Michigan StateWon 38–20 vs. No. 12 Oregon+18No. 12 Oregon
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3atMinnesotaW 56–⁠372%
Sep 10vs14USCW 38–⁠1465%
Sep 17vsIowaW 61–⁠2178%
Sep 24vsRutgersW 55–⁠2783%
Oct 1atTempleW 48–⁠2185%
Oct 15at5MichiganW 31–⁠2444%
Oct 29vs21Ohio StateW 63–⁠1469%
Nov 5atIndianaW 35–⁠2974%
Nov 12atIllinoisW 35–⁠3168%
Nov 19vsNorthwesternW 45–⁠1794%
Nov 26vsMichigan StateW 59–⁠3184%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs12OregonRose BowlW 38–⁠2071%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oregon 38–⁠20 in the Rose Bowl; No. 2 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1994.

Big Ten champions8–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteKi-Jana Carter, second; Kerry Collins, fourth

Led the nationKerry Collins: passer rating (172.9); Ki-Jana Carter: yards per carry (7.8)

Maxwell AwardKerry Collins, QB; also the Davey O’Brien

Biletnikoff AwardBobby Engram, WR

2 consensus All-AmericansKerry Collins, QB; Ki-Jana Carter, RB

Walter Camp Coach of the YearJoe Paterno, coach

Record
12–⁠0
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 2 peak No. 1
Points
564–⁠252
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1815 +171 this season
SP+ rating
31.9 No. 1 of 106; offense No. 1, defense No. 38
SRS
30.6 No. 1 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator
Jerry Sandusky
Captains
Kerry Collins, Brian Gelzheiser, Bucky Greeley, Willie Smith and Vin Stewart
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1995

The 1995 draft
Rd 1Ki-Jana Carter RBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 1Kerry Collins QBCarolina Panthers
Rd 1Kyle Brady TENew York Jets
Rd 5Phil Yeboah-Kodie LBDenver Broncos
Rd 6Brian Gelzheiser LBIndianapolis Colts

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1994 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1994 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State8–⁠012–⁠02
Ohio State6–⁠29–⁠414
Michigan5–⁠38–⁠412
Wisconsin4–⁠3–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Illinois4–⁠47–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠45–⁠6
Iowa3–⁠4–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Indiana3–⁠56–⁠5
Purdue2–⁠4–⁠24–⁠5–⁠2
Northwestern2–⁠63–⁠7–⁠1
Minnesota1–⁠73–⁠8

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