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1995 Penn State

9–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno, finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 1995, game by game: won vs. Texas Tech 24–23; won vs. Temple 66–14; won at Rutgers 59–34; lost vs. Wisconsin 9–17; lost vs. No. 5 Ohio State 25–28; won at Purdue 26–23; won at No. 18 Iowa 41–27; won vs. Indiana 45–21; lost at No. 6 Northwestern 10–21; won vs. No. 12 Michigan 27–17; won at Michigan State 24–20; won vs. No. 16 Auburn 43–14+52−11Won 24–23 vs. Texas Tech+1Texas TechWon 66–14 vs. Temple+52TempleWon 59–34 at Rutgers+25RutgersLost 9–17 vs. Wisconsin-8WisconsinLost 25–28 vs. No. 5 Ohio State-3No. 5 Ohio StateWon 26–23 at Purdue+3PurdueWon 41–27 at No. 18 Iowa+14No. 18 IowaWon 45–21 vs. Indiana+24IndianaLost 10–21 at No. 6 Northwestern-11No. 6 NorthwesternWon 27–17 vs. No. 12 Michigan+10No. 12 MichiganWon 24–20 at Michigan State+4Michigan StateWon 43–14 vs. No. 16 Auburn+29No. 16 Auburn
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsTexas TechW 24–⁠2379%
Sep 16vsTempleW 66–⁠1493%
Sep 23atRutgersW 59–⁠3475%
Sep 30vsWisconsinL 9–⁠1777%
Oct 7vs5Ohio StateL 25–⁠2855%
Oct 14atPurdueW 26–⁠2370%
Oct 21at18IowaW 41–⁠2756%
Oct 28vsIndianaW 45–⁠2187%
Nov 4at6NorthwesternL 10–⁠2159%
Nov 18vs12MichiganW 27–⁠1759%
Nov 25atMichigan StateW 24–⁠2061%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs16AuburnOutback BowlW 43–⁠1456%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Auburn 43–⁠14 in the Outback Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The tied 17th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 4
  2. Wk 2: 4
  3. Wk 3: 4
  4. Wk 4: 7
  5. Wk 5: 6
  6. Wk 6: 6
  7. Wk 7: 12
  8. Wk 8: 20
  9. Wk 9: 19
  10. Wk 10: 16
  11. Wk 11: 12
  12. Wk 12: 19
  13. Wk 13: 19
  14. Wk 14: 14
  15. Wk 15: 15
  16. Wk 16: 15
  17. Final: 13

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 1995.

Consensus All-AmericanJeff Hartings, OL

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 4
Points
399–⁠259
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1748 +38 this season
SP+ rating
20.5 No. 11 of 107; offense No. 10, defense No. 31
SRS
19.5 No. 10 of 108 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator
Jerry Sandusky
Captains
Todd Atkins, Bobby Engram, Jeff Hartings and Terry Killens
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1996

The 1996 draft
Rd 1Jeff Hartings OGDetroit Lions
Rd 1Andre Johnson OTWashington Redskins
Rd 2Bobby Engram WRChicago Bears
Rd 3Terry Killens LBHouston Oilers
Rd 3Jon Witman RBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Brian Milne RBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 6Keith Conlin OTIndianapolis Colts
Rd 6Stephen Pitts RBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 6Marco Rivera OGGreen Bay Packers
Rd 7Mike Archie RBHouston Oilers

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1995 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1995 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Northwestern8–⁠010–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠111–⁠26
Penn State5–⁠39–⁠313
Michigan5–⁠39–⁠417
Michigan State4–⁠3–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Iowa4–⁠48–⁠425
Illinois3–⁠4–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Wisconsin3–⁠4–⁠14–⁠5–⁠2
Purdue2–⁠5–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota1–⁠73–⁠8
Indiana0–⁠82–⁠9

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