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1999 Penn State

10–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 1999, game by game: won vs. No. 4 Arizona 41–7; won vs. Akron 70–24; won vs. Pittsburgh 20–17; won at No. 8 Miami 27–23; won vs. Indiana 45–24; won at Iowa 31–7; won vs. No. 18 Ohio State 23–10; won at No. 16 Purdue 31–25; won at Illinois 27–7; lost vs. Minnesota 23–24; lost vs. No. 16 Michigan 27–31; lost at No. 15 Michigan State 28–35; won vs. No. 18 Texas A&M 24–0+46−7Won 41–7 vs. No. 4 Arizona+34No. 4 ArizonaWon 70–24 vs. Akron+46AkronWon 20–17 vs. Pittsburgh+3PittsburghWon 27–23 at No. 8 Miami+4No. 8 MiamiWon 45–24 vs. Indiana+21IndianaWon 31–7 at Iowa+24IowaWon 23–10 vs. No. 18 Ohio State+13No. 18 Ohio StateWon 31–25 at No. 16 Purdue+6No. 16 PurdueWon 27–7 at Illinois+20IllinoisLost 23–24 vs. Minnesota-1MinnesotaLost 27–31 vs. No. 16 Michigan-4No. 16 MichiganLost 28–35 at No. 15 Michigan State-7No. 15 Michigan StateWon 24–0 vs. No. 18 Texas A&M+24No. 18 Texas A&M
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 28vs4ArizonaW 41–⁠745%
Sep 4vsAkronW 70–⁠2486%
Sep 11vsPittsburghW 20–⁠1783%
Sep 18at8MiamiW 27–⁠2348%
Sep 25vsIndianaW 45–⁠2487%
Oct 9atIowaW 31–⁠779%
Oct 16vs18Ohio StateW 23–⁠1064%
Oct 23at16PurdueW 31–⁠2551%
Oct 30atIllinoisW 27–⁠780%
Nov 6vsMinnesotaL 23–⁠2482%
Nov 13vs16MichiganL 27–⁠3164%
Nov 20at15Michigan StateL 28–⁠3552%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvs18Texas A&MAlamo BowlW 24–⁠054%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas A&M 24–⁠0 in the Alamo Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 23rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 2
  3. Wk 3: 2
  4. Wk 4: 3
  5. Wk 5: 2
  6. Wk 6: 2
  7. Wk 7: 2
  8. Wk 8: 2
  9. Wk 9: 2
  10. Wk 10: 2
  11. Wk 11: 2
  12. Wk 12: 6
  13. Wk 13: 13
  14. Wk 14: 15
  15. Wk 15: 14
  16. Wk 16: 13
  17. 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 1999.

Butkus AwardLaVar Arrington, LB; also the Bednarik

3 consensus All-AmericansCourtney Brown, DE; LaVar Arrington, LB; Brandon Short, LB

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 2
Points
417–⁠234
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1731 +110 this season
SP+ rating
26.1 No. 6 of 114; offense No. 7, defense No. 9
SRS
20.6 No. 6 of 114 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator
Jerry Sandusky
Captains
Brandon Short and Kevin Thompson
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 2000

The 2000 draft
Rd 1Courtney Brown DECleveland Browns
Rd 1LaVar Arrington LBWashington Redskins
Rd 3David Macklin DBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 4Brandon Short LBNew York Giants

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Chafie FieldsWRCoaches-2
  • Eric ColeOGMedia-2
  • David MacklinDBCoaches-2; Media-2

From Wikipedia’s 1999 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1999 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Wisconsin7–⁠110–⁠24
Michigan State6–⁠210–⁠27
Michigan6–⁠210–⁠25
Penn State5–⁠310–⁠311
Minnesota5–⁠38–⁠418
Illinois4–⁠48–⁠424
Purdue4–⁠47–⁠525
Ohio State3–⁠56–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠54–⁠7
Northwestern1–⁠73–⁠8
Iowa0–⁠81–⁠10

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