CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Penn State

11–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2008, game by game: won vs. Coastal Carolina 66–10; won vs. Oregon State 45–14; won at Syracuse 55–13; won vs. Temple 45–3; won vs. No. 22 Illinois 38–24; won at Purdue 20–6; won at Wisconsin 48–7; won vs. Michigan 46–17; won at No. 10 Ohio State 13–6; lost at Iowa 23–24; won vs. Indiana 34–7; won vs. No. 17 Michigan State 49–18; lost vs. No. 5 USC 24–38+56−14Won 66–10 vs. Coastal Carolina+56Coastal CarolinaWon 45–14 vs. Oregon State+31Oregon StateWon 55–13 at Syracuse+42SyracuseWon 45–3 vs. Temple+42TempleWon 38–24 vs. No. 22 Illinois+14No. 22 IllinoisWon 20–6 at Purdue+14PurdueWon 48–7 at Wisconsin+41WisconsinWon 46–17 vs. Michigan+29MichiganWon 13–6 at No. 10 Ohio State+7No. 10 Ohio StateLost 23–24 at Iowa-1IowaWon 34–7 vs. Indiana+27IndianaWon 49–18 vs. No. 17 Michigan State+31No. 17 Michigan StateLost 24–38 vs. No. 5 USC-14No. 5 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsCoastal CarolinaW 66–⁠1087%
Sep 6vsOregon StateW 45–⁠1465%
Sep 13atSyracuseW 55–⁠1381%
Sep 20vsTempleW 45–⁠386%
Sep 27vs22IllinoisW 38–⁠2472%
Oct 4atPurdueW 20–⁠665%
Oct 11atWisconsinW 48–⁠752%
Oct 18vsMichiganW 46–⁠1782%
Oct 25at10Ohio StateW 13–⁠640%
Nov 8atIowaL 23–⁠2471%
Nov 15vsIndianaW 34–⁠793%
Nov 22vs17Michigan StateW 49–⁠1873%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs5USCRose BowlL 24–⁠3843%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to USC 38–⁠24 in the Rose Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 16th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 22
  2. Wk 2: 19
  3. Wk 3: 17
  4. Wk 4: 16
  5. Wk 5: 12
  6. Wk 6: 6
  7. Wk 7: 6
  8. Wk 8: 3
  9. Wk 9: 3
  10. Wk 10: 3
  11. Wk 11: 3
  12. Wk 12: 7
  13. Wk 13: 7
  14. Wk 14: 6
  15. Wk 15: 6
  16. Final: 8

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

Rimington TrophyA.Q. Shipley, C

Consensus All-AmericanAaron Maybin, DE

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 3
Points
506–⁠187
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1755 +147 this season
SP+ rating
29.5 No. 5 of 120; offense No. 10, defense No. 10, special teams No. 9
SRS
21.5 No. 5 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 40
Offensive coordinator
Galen Hall
Defensive coordinator
Tom Bradley
Captains
Josh Gaines, Anthony Scirrotto, A.Q. Shipley, Derrick Williams and Sean Lee
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense15th of 120
  • Defense30th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted8th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted31st of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1146%0.9215th of 120
Defense-0.0137%0.9030th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.11 off
0.00 def		47% off
38% def		—8th off
31st def
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. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 351% allowed
Defense0.0own 273% 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 2008 class

Michael Zordich OLB★★★★No. 140
Michael Yancich OLB★★★★No. 142
Michael Mauti OLB★★★★No. 148
Brandon Beachum RB★★★★No. 201
Matt Stankiewitch OG★★★★No. 336
Mark Wedderburn TE★★★★No. 342

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.918
Receivers33.30.852
Offensive line33.30.860
Defensive line23.00.866
Linebackers34.00.934
Defensive backs22.50.799
Whole class143.40.871

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 2009

The 2009 draft
Rd 1Aaron Maybin DEBuffalo Bills
Rd 3Derrick Williams WRDetroit Lions
Rd 3Deon Butler WRSeattle Seahawks
Rd 4Rich Ohrnberger OGNew England Patriots
Rd 7A.Q. Shipley CPittsburgh Steelers

All-Big Ten

10 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2008 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2008 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State7–⁠111–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠39
Michigan State6–⁠29–⁠424
Northwestern5–⁠39–⁠4
Iowa5–⁠39–⁠420
Wisconsin3–⁠57–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠57–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠55–⁠7
Purdue2–⁠64–⁠8
Michigan2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠73–⁠9

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