2004 Penn State
4–7 (2–6 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Akron 48–10Sep 4
By 38 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4 | vs Akron | W 48–10 | 56% |
| Sep 11 | at Boston College | L 7–21 | 30% |
| Sep 18 | vs UCF | W 37–13 | 73% |
| Sep 25 | at 20Wisconsin | L 3–16 | 33% |
| Oct 2 | at 18Minnesota | L 7–16 | 23% |
| Oct 9 | vs 9Purdue | L 13–20 | 31% |
| Oct 23 | vs 25Iowa | L 4–6 | 33% |
| Oct 30 | at Ohio State | L 10–21 | 23% |
| Nov 6 | vs Northwestern | L 7–14 | 51% |
| Nov 13 | at Indiana | W 22–18 | 50% |
| Nov 20 | vs Michigan State | W 37–13 | 40% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat Michigan State 37–13; unranked in the final AP poll; 9th in the Big Ten.
In program history: The 114th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).
- Record
- 4–7
- Conference
- 2–6 9th in Big Ten
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 195–168
- Coach
- Joe Paterno
- Elo
- 1485 +12 this season
- SP+ rating
- 7.4 No. 45 of 120; offense No. 113, defense No. 6
- SRS
- 3.2 No. 47 of 119 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- No. 13
- Offensive coordinator
- Galen Hall
- Defensive coordinator
- Tom Bradley
- Offense
- Pro-style
- Defense
- 4–3
How good, play by play
| EPA per play | Success | Explosiveness | FBS rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | -0.14 | 36% | 0.93 | 94th of 118 |
| Defense | -0.04 | 35% | 0.95 | 60th of 118 |
How these are measured
Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.
Drives and havoc
| Points per trip inside the 40 | Average start | Havoc | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Offense | 0.0 | own 34 | 3% allowed |
| Defense | 0.0 | own 30 | 2% 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 2004 class
| Dan Connor ILB | ★★★★★ | No. 13 |
| Anthony Morelli PRO | ★★★★★ | No. 15 |
| Greg Harrison OG | ★★★★ | No. 60 |
| A.Q. Shipley DT | ★★★★ | No. 123 |
| Matt Hahn FB | ★★★ | No. 229 |
247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.
The 2004 class by position
| Signed | Stars | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks | 3 | 3.0 | 0.820 |
| Running backs | 1 | 3.0 | 0.878 |
| Offensive line | 2 | 3.5 | 0.904 |
| Defensive line | 1 | 4.0 | 0.922 |
| Linebackers | 1 | 5.0 | 0.994 |
| Athletes and specialists | 1 | 2.0 | 0.767 |
| Whole class | 9 | 3.3 | 0.870 |
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.
All-Big Ten
3 second teamSecond team
Tamba HaliDLCoaches-2; Media-2
Paul PoslusznyLBCoaches-2; Media-2
Alan ZemaitisDBCoaches-2; Media-2
From Wikipedia’s 2004 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
2004 Big Ten standings
Conference page| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | 7–1 | 10–2 | 8 |
 Michigan | 7–1 | 9–3 | 14 |
| Wisconsin | 6–2 | 9–3 | 17 |
| Northwestern | 5–3 | 6–6 | |
| Ohio State | 4–4 | 8–4 | 20 |
| Purdue | 4–4 | 7–5 | |
| Michigan State | 4–4 | 5–7 | |
| Minnesota | 3–5 | 7–5 | |
| Penn State | 2–6 | 4–7 | |
 Illinois | 1–7 | 3–8 | |
| Indiana | 1–7 | 3–8 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.