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2006 Penn State

9–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno, finished No. 24 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2006, game by game: won vs. Akron 34–16; lost at No. 4 Notre Dame 17–41; won vs. Youngstown State 37–3; lost at No. 1 Ohio State 6–28; won vs. Northwestern 33–7; won at Minnesota 28–27; lost vs. No. 4 Michigan 10–17; won vs. Illinois 26–12; won at Purdue 12–0; lost at No. 17 Wisconsin 3–13; won vs. Temple 47–0; won vs. Michigan State 17–13; won vs. No. 17 Tennessee 20–10+47−24Won 34–16 vs. Akron+18AkronLost 17–41 at No. 4 Notre Dame-24No. 4 Notre DameWon 37–3 vs. Youngstown State+34Youngstown StateLost 6–28 at No. 1 Ohio State-22No. 1 Ohio StateWon 33–7 vs. Northwestern+26NorthwesternWon 28–27 at Minnesota+1MinnesotaLost 10–17 vs. No. 4 Michigan-7No. 4 MichiganWon 26–12 vs. Illinois+14IllinoisWon 12–0 at Purdue+12PurdueLost 3–13 at No. 17 Wisconsin-10No. 17 WisconsinWon 47–0 vs. Temple+47TempleWon 17–13 vs. Michigan State+4Michigan StateWon 20–10 vs. No. 17 Tennessee+10No. 17 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsAkronW 34–⁠1678%
Sep 9at4Notre DameL 17–⁠4144%
Sep 16vsYoungstown StateW 37–⁠383%
Sep 23at1Ohio StateL 6–⁠2828%
Sep 30vsNorthwesternW 33–⁠772%
Oct 7atMinnesotaW 28–⁠2758%
Oct 14vs4MichiganL 10–⁠1746%
Oct 21vsIllinoisW 26–⁠1287%
Oct 28atPurdueW 12–⁠053%
Nov 4at17WisconsinL 3–⁠1334%
Nov 11vsTempleW 47–⁠092%
Nov 18vsMichigan StateW 17–⁠1381%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs17TennesseeOutback BowlW 20–⁠1046%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Tennessee 20–⁠10 in the Outback Bowl; No. 24 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 48th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 19
  2. Wk 2: 19
  3. Wk 3: 25
  4. Wk 4: 24
  5. Final: 24

Chuck Bednarik AwardPaul Posluszny, LB

Consensus All-AmericanPaul Posluszny, LB

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 24 peak No. 19
Points
290–⁠187
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1667 +34 this season
SP+ rating
12.7 No. 34 of 119; offense No. 56, defense No. 9, special teams No. 64
SRS
8.2 No. 29 of 119 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 7
Offensive coordinator
Galen Hall
Defensive coordinator
Tom Bradley
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense94th of 119
  • Defense25th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0140%0.9394th of 119
Defense0.0036%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-0.2own 332% allowed
Defense-0.1own 283% 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 2006 class

Maurice Evans SDE★★★★★No. 30
J.B. Walton OG★★★★No. 41
A.J. Wallace CB★★★★No. 52
Chris Bell WR★★★★No. 84
Pat Devlin PRO★★★★No. 99
Antonio Logan-El OG★★★★No. 111
Brent Carter RB★★★★No. 114
Jared Odrick DT★★★★No. 119

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

The 2006 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.954
Running backs14.00.949
Receivers24.00.933
Offensive line34.00.948
Defensive line54.20.931
Linebackers24.00.916
Defensive backs14.00.977
Whole class154.10.938

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 2007

The 2007 draft
Rd 1Levi Brown OTArizona Cardinals
Rd 2Paul Posluszny LBBuffalo Bills
Rd 3Jay Alford DTNew York Giants
Rd 3Tony Hunt RBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5Tim Shaw LBCarolina Panthers

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2006 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2006 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠012–⁠12
Wisconsin7–⁠112–⁠17
Michigan7–⁠111–⁠28
Penn State5–⁠39–⁠424
Purdue5–⁠38–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠56–⁠7
Indiana3–⁠55–⁠7
Iowa2–⁠66–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠64–⁠8
Michigan State1–⁠74–⁠8
Illinois1–⁠72–⁠10

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