CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2009 Penn State

11–⁠2 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2009, game by game: won vs. Akron 31–7; won vs. Syracuse 28–7; won vs. Temple 31–6; lost vs. Iowa 10–21; won at Illinois 35–17; won vs. Eastern Illinois 52–3; won vs. Minnesota 20–0; won at Michigan 35–10; won at Northwestern 34–13; lost vs. No. 15 Ohio State 7–24; won vs. Indiana 31–20; won at Michigan State 42–14; won vs. No. 13 LSU 19–17+49−17Won 31–7 vs. Akron+24AkronWon 28–7 vs. Syracuse+21SyracuseWon 31–6 vs. Temple+25TempleLost 10–21 vs. Iowa-11IowaWon 35–17 at Illinois+18IllinoisWon 52–3 vs. Eastern Illinois+49Eastern IllinoisWon 20–0 vs. Minnesota+20MinnesotaWon 35–10 at Michigan+25MichiganWon 34–13 at Northwestern+21NorthwesternLost 7–24 vs. No. 15 Ohio State-17No. 15 Ohio StateWon 31–20 vs. Indiana+11IndianaWon 42–14 at Michigan State+28Michigan StateWon 19–17 vs. No. 13 LSU+2No. 13 LSU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsAkronW 31–⁠785%
Sep 12vsSyracuseW 28–⁠789%
Sep 19vsTempleW 31–⁠686%
Sep 26vsIowaL 10–⁠2165%
Oct 3atIllinoisW 35–⁠1767%
Oct 10vsEastern IllinoisW 52–⁠390%
Oct 17vsMinnesotaW 20–⁠079%
Oct 24atMichiganW 35–⁠1064%
Oct 31atNorthwesternW 34–⁠1370%
Nov 7vs15Ohio StateL 7–⁠2463%
Nov 14vsIndianaW 31–⁠2087%
Nov 21atMichigan StateW 42–⁠1458%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs13LSUCapital One BowlW 19–⁠1758%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat LSU 19–⁠17 in the Capital One Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 21st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 9
  2. Wk 2: 7
  3. Wk 3: 5
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 15
  6. Wk 6: 14
  7. Wk 7: 14
  8. Wk 8: 13
  9. Wk 9: 12
  10. Wk 10: 11
  11. Wk 11: 19
  12. Wk 12: 13
  13. Wk 13: 12
  14. Wk 14: 10
  15. Wk 15: 11
  16. Final: 9
Record
11–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 5
Points
375–⁠159
Coach
Joe Paterno
Elo
1739 +69 this season
SP+ rating
21.9 No. 11 of 120; offense No. 24, defense No. 9, special teams No. 102
SRS
13.7 No. 13 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 19
Offensive coordinator
Galen Hall
Defensive coordinator
Tom Bradley
Captains
Daryll Clark and Sean Lee
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense41st of 120
  • Defense14th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted39th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted27th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0645%0.8741st of 120
Defense-0.0336%0.9814th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
0.01 def		44% off
37% def		—39th off
27th 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 333% allowed
Defense-0.3own 282% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsDaryll Clark QB3,003 yds
Passing touchdownsDaryll Clark QB24 TD
Rushing yardsEvan Royster 1,169 yds
Rushing touchdownsDaryll Clark QB7 TD
Receiving yardsDerek Moye WR785 yds
Receiving touchdownsGraham Zug WR7 TD
InterceptionsA.J. Wallace CB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2009 class

Eric Shrive OG★★★★No. 39
Darrell Givens CB★★★★No. 119
Justin Brown WR★★★★No. 158
Gerald Hodges OLB★★★★No. 169
Glenn Carson OLB★★★★No. 221
Derrick Thomas CB★★★★No. 303

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

The 2009 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers33.30.866
Offensive line63.00.857
Defensive line13.00.811
Linebackers24.00.919
Defensive backs33.70.892
Athletes and specialists13.00.867
Whole class163.30.871

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 2010

The 2010 draft
Rd 1Jared Odrick DTMiami Dolphins
Rd 2Sean Lee ILBDallas Cowboys
Rd 3Navorro Bowman OLBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 5Andrew Quarless TEGreen Bay Packers
Rd 7Mickey Shuler TEMinnesota Vikings
Rd 7Josh Hull ILBSt. Louis Rams

Roster 118

The 2009 roster

118 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2009 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

6 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2009 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2009 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠111–⁠25
Iowa6–⁠211–⁠27
Penn State6–⁠211–⁠29
Wisconsin5–⁠310–⁠316
Northwestern5–⁠38–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠46–⁠7
Purdue4–⁠45–⁠7
Minnesota3–⁠56–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠63–⁠9
Michigan1–⁠75–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠8

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