CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2007 Penn State

9–⁠4 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2007, game by game: won vs. Florida International 59–0; won vs. Notre Dame 31–10; won vs. Buffalo 45–24; lost at Michigan 9–14; lost at Illinois 20–27; won vs. Iowa 27–7; won vs. No. 19 Wisconsin 38–7; won at Indiana 36–31; lost vs. No. 1 Ohio State 17–37; won vs. Purdue 26–19; won at Temple 31–0; lost at Michigan State 31–35; won vs. Texas A&M 24–17+59−20Won 59–0 vs. Florida International+59Florida Interna…Won 31–10 vs. Notre Dame+21Notre DameWon 45–24 vs. Buffalo+21BuffaloLost 9–14 at Michigan-5MichiganLost 20–27 at Illinois-7IllinoisWon 27–7 vs. Iowa+20IowaWon 38–7 vs. No. 19 Wisconsin+31No. 19 WisconsinWon 36–31 at Indiana+5IndianaLost 17–37 vs. No. 1 Ohio State-20No. 1 Ohio StateWon 26–19 vs. Purdue+7PurdueWon 31–0 at Temple+31TempleLost 31–35 at Michigan State-4Michigan StateWon 24–17 vs. Texas A&M+7Texas A&M
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsFlorida InternationalW 59–⁠089%
Sep 8vsNotre DameW 31–⁠1064%
Sep 15vsBuffaloW 45–⁠2486%
Sep 22atMichiganL 9–⁠1447%
Sep 29atIllinoisL 20–⁠2766%
Oct 6vsIowaW 27–⁠771%
Oct 13vs19WisconsinW 38–⁠750%
Oct 20atIndianaW 36–⁠3164%
Oct 27vs1Ohio StateL 17–⁠3740%
Nov 3vsPurdueW 26–⁠1961%
Nov 10atTempleW 31–⁠085%
Nov 17atMichigan StateL 31–⁠3559%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsTexas A&MAlamo BowlW 24–⁠1759%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas A&M 24–⁠17 in the Alamo Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The tied 50th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 17
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 10
  5. Wk 5: 21
  6. Wk 9: 24

Chuck Bednarik AwardDan Connor, LB

Consensus All-AmericanDan Connor, LB

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 10
Points
394–⁠228
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1663 +52 this season
SP+ rating
20.2 No. 14 of 120; offense No. 27, defense No. 12, special teams No. 38
SRS
9.9 No. 19 of 119 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 39
Offensive coordinator
Galen Hall
Defensive coordinator
Tom Bradley
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense24th of 119
  • Defense43rd of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0846%0.8524th of 119
Defense0.0238%0.9643rd 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-0.1own 332% allowed
Defense0.0own 272% 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 2007 class

Nick Sukay WR★★★★No. 92
Stefen Wisniewski OG★★★★No. 99
Devon Still DT★★★★No. 121
Chaz Powell ATH★★★★No. 184
Quinn Barham OT★★★No. 865

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

The 2007 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.811
Receivers14.00.949
Offensive line23.50.891
Defensive line14.00.938
Defensive backs12.00.722
Athletes and specialists23.50.873
Whole class83.40.869

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 2008

The 2008 draft
Rd 3Dan Connor ILBCarolina Panthers
Rd 4Justin King CBSt. Louis Rams

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2007 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2007 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠111–⁠25
Michigan6–⁠29–⁠418
Illinois6–⁠29–⁠420
Wisconsin5–⁠39–⁠424
Penn State4–⁠49–⁠4
Iowa4–⁠46–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠58–⁠5
Michigan State3–⁠57–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠57–⁠6
Northwestern3–⁠56–⁠6
Minnesota0–⁠81–⁠11

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