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2001 Penn State

5–⁠6 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2001, game by game: lost vs. No. 2 Miami 7–33; lost vs. Wisconsin 6–18; lost at Iowa 18–24; lost vs. No. 15 Michigan 0–20; won at Northwestern 38–35; won vs. Ohio State 29–27; won vs. Southern Miss 38–20; lost at No. 15 Illinois 28–33; won vs. Indiana 28–14; won at Michigan State 42–37; lost at Virginia 14–20+18−26Lost 7–33 vs. No. 2 Miami-26No. 2 MiamiLost 6–18 vs. Wisconsin-12WisconsinLost 18–24 at Iowa-6IowaLost 0–20 vs. No. 15 Michigan-20No. 15 MichiganWon 38–35 at Northwestern+3NorthwesternWon 29–27 vs. Ohio State+2Ohio StateWon 38–20 vs. Southern Miss+18Southern MissLost 28–33 at No. 15 Illinois-5No. 15 IllinoisWon 28–14 vs. Indiana+14IndianaWon 42–37 at Michigan State+5Michigan StateLost 14–20 at Virginia-6Virginia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vs2MiamiL 7–⁠3335%
Sep 22vsWisconsinL 6–⁠1848%
Sep 29atIowaL 18–⁠2445%
Oct 6vs15MichiganL 0–⁠2029%
Oct 20atNorthwesternW 38–⁠3529%
Oct 27vsOhio StateW 29–⁠2741%
Nov 3vsSouthern MissW 38–⁠2044%
Nov 10at15IllinoisL 28–⁠3325%
Nov 17vsIndianaW 28–⁠1461%
Nov 24atMichigan StateW 42–⁠3742%
Dec 1atVirginiaL 14–⁠2062%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Virginia 20–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 102nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

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 2001.

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 4th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
248–⁠281
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1536 −4 this season
SP+ rating
10.2 No. 40 of 117; offense No. 55, defense No. 31
SRS
5.9 No. 44 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 17
Offensive coordinator
Fran Ganter
Defensive coordinator
Tom Bradley
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 29— allowed
Defense-0.1own 34— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2001 class

Charles Rush DT★★★★No. 74
Tyler Reed OG★★★★No. 82
Michael Robinson DUAL★★★★No. 110

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2001 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.966
Offensive line14.00.974
Defensive line14.00.975
Whole class34.00.972

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2002

The 2002 draft
Rd 4Omar Easy RBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 6John Gilmore TENew Orleans Saints

All-Big Ten

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 2001 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2001 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Illinois7–⁠110–⁠212
Michigan6–⁠28–⁠420
Ohio State5–⁠37–⁠5
Iowa4–⁠47–⁠5
Purdue4–⁠46–⁠6
Penn State4–⁠45–⁠6
Indiana4–⁠45–⁠6
Michigan State3–⁠57–⁠5
Wisconsin3–⁠55–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠64–⁠7
Minnesota2–⁠64–⁠7

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