CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2005 Penn State

11–⁠1 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2005, game by game: won vs. South Florida 23–13; won vs. Cincinnati 42–24; won vs. Central Michigan 40–3; won at Northwestern 34–29; won vs. No. 18 Minnesota 44–14; won vs. No. 6 Ohio State 17–10; lost at Michigan 25–27; won at Illinois 63–10; won vs. Purdue 33–15; won vs. No. 14 Wisconsin 35–14; won at Michigan State 31–22; won vs. No. 22 Florida State 26–23+53−2Won 23–13 vs. South Florida+10South FloridaWon 42–24 vs. Cincinnati+18CincinnatiWon 40–3 vs. Central Michigan+37Central MichiganWon 34–29 at Northwestern+5NorthwesternWon 44–14 vs. No. 18 Minnesota+30No. 18 MinnesotaWon 17–10 vs. No. 6 Ohio State+7No. 6 Ohio StateLost 25–27 at Michigan-2MichiganWon 63–10 at Illinois+53IllinoisWon 33–15 vs. Purdue+18PurdueWon 35–14 vs. No. 14 Wisconsin+21No. 14 WisconsinWon 31–22 at Michigan State+9Michigan StateWon 26–23 vs. No. 22 Florida State+3No. 22 Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsSouth FloridaW 23–⁠1363%
Sep 10vsCincinnatiW 42–⁠2450%
Sep 17vsCentral MichiganW 40–⁠380%
Sep 24atNorthwesternW 34–⁠2949%
Oct 1vs18MinnesotaW 44–⁠1450%
Oct 8vs6Ohio StateW 17–⁠1048%
Oct 15atMichiganL 25–⁠2743%
Oct 22atIllinoisW 63–⁠1075%
Oct 29vsPurdueW 33–⁠1574%
Nov 5vs14WisconsinW 35–⁠1455%
Nov 19atMichigan StateW 31–⁠2266%
Jan 3Bowls & playoffvs22Florida StateOrange BowlW 26–⁠2359%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Florida State 26–⁠23 in the Orange Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 33rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

Big Ten champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Ohio State

Heisman voteMichael Robinson, fifth

Butkus AwardPaul Posluszny, LB; also the Bednarik

2 consensus All-AmericansTamba Hali, DE; Paul Posluszny, LB

Walter Camp Coach of the YearJoe Paterno, coach; also the Bobby Dodd Award

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 3
Points
413–⁠204
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1700 +210 this season
SP+ rating
29.3 No. 4 of 118; offense No. 14, defense No. 3
SRS
20.6 No. 4 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 25
Offensive coordinator
Galen Hall
Defensive coordinator
Tom Bradley
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense26th of 119
  • Defense25th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1144%1.0126th of 119
Defense0.0235%1.0325th of 119
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 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.3own 323% allowed
Defense-0.1own 292% 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 2005 class

Derrick Williams WR★★★★★No. 4
Justin King CB★★★★★No. 15
Jerome Hayes OLB★★★★No. 103
Darryl Clark DUAL★★★No. 954
Kevin Kelly K★★No. 966

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

The 2005 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.800
Receivers33.00.837
Defensive line12.00.767
Linebackers14.00.944
Defensive backs23.50.869
Athletes and specialists12.00.789
Whole class93.00.839

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 2006

The 2006 draft
Rd 1Tamba Hali DEKansas City Chiefs
Rd 4Michael Robinson RBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 4Calvin Lowry DBTennessee Titans
Rd 4Alan Zemaitis DBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 6Tyler Reed OGChicago Bears
Rd 7Ethan Kilmer DBCincinnati Bengals

All-Big Ten

6 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2005 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2005 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State7–⁠111–⁠13
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠24
Wisconsin5–⁠310–⁠315
Iowa5–⁠37–⁠5
Northwestern5–⁠37–⁠5
Michigan5–⁠37–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠47–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠55–⁠6
Michigan State2–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠7
Illinois0–⁠82–⁠9

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