CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2011 Penn State

9–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Joe Paterno, then Tom Bradley (interim, remainder of season).

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2011, game by game: won vs. Indiana State 41–7; lost vs. No. 3 Alabama 11–27; won at Temple 14–10; won vs. Eastern Michigan 34–6; won at Indiana 16–10; won vs. Iowa 13–3; won vs. Purdue 23–18; won at Northwestern 34–24; won vs. Illinois 10–7; lost vs. No. 19 Nebraska 14–17; won at Ohio State 20–14; lost at No. 15 Wisconsin 7–45; lost vs. No. 20 Houston 14–30+34−38Won 41–7 vs. Indiana State+34Indiana StateLost 11–27 vs. No. 3 Alabama-16No. 3 AlabamaWon 14–10 at Temple+4TempleWon 34–6 vs. Eastern Michigan+28Eastern MichiganWon 16–10 at Indiana+6IndianaWon 13–3 vs. Iowa+10IowaWon 23–18 vs. Purdue+5PurdueWon 34–24 at Northwestern+10NorthwesternWon 10–7 vs. Illinois+3IllinoisLost 14–17 vs. No. 19 Nebraska-3No. 19 NebraskaWon 20–14 at Ohio State+6Ohio StateLost 7–45 at No. 15 Wisconsin-38No. 15 WisconsinLost 14–30 vs. No. 20 Houston-16No. 20 Houston
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsIndiana StateW 41–⁠788%
Sep 10vs3AlabamaL 11–⁠2737%
Sep 17atTempleW 14–⁠1040%
Sep 24vsEastern MichiganW 34–⁠684%
Oct 1atIndianaW 16–⁠1066%
Oct 8vsIowaW 13–⁠352%
Oct 15vsPurdueW 23–⁠1877%
Oct 22atNorthwesternW 34–⁠2464%
Oct 29vsIllinoisW 10–⁠767%
Nov 12vs19NebraskaL 14–⁠1754%
Nov 19atOhio StateW 20–⁠1438%
Nov 26at15WisconsinL 7–⁠4532%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs20HoustonTicketCity BowlL 14–⁠3047%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Houston 30–⁠14 in the TicketCity Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 68th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 23
  2. Wk 9: 21
  3. Wk 10: 16
  4. Wk 11: 12
  5. Wk 12: 21
  6. Wk 13: 20
  7. Wk 14: 23
  8. Wk 15: 24

Big Ten Leaders champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Wisconsin

Consensus All-AmericanDevon Still, DT

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 12
Points
251–⁠218
Coach
Joe Paterno, then Tom Bradley (interim, remainder of season)
Elo
1606 +47 this season
SP+ rating
11.5 No. 32 of 120; offense No. 77, defense No. 6, special teams No. 69
SRS
6.1 No. 32 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 31
Offensive coordinator
Galen Hall
Defensive coordinators
Tom Bradley, Larry Johnson and Ron Vanderlinden
Captains
Drew Astorino, Quinn Barham, Derek Moye and Devon Still
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense100th of 120
  • Defense36th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted113th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted19th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0138%0.96100th of 120
Defense0.0239%0.9536th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.01 off
0.01 def		39% off
39% def		—113th off
19th 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
Offense0.0own 331% allowed
Defense0.0own 293% 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.

Player leaders are hidden for this season: our source’s player stats for Penn State are missing players (they add up to less than 85% of the team’s passing or rushing yards).

Top recruits in the 2011 class

Angelo Mangiro OG★★★★No. 96
Anthony Zettel SDE★★★★No. 133
Bill Belton ATH★★★★No. 153
Donovan Smith OT★★★★No. 162
Shawn Oakman SDE★★★★No. 214

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

The 2011 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers33.00.837
Offensive line24.00.941
Defensive line33.70.912
Defensive backs13.00.841
Athletes and specialists23.00.854
Whole class113.40.880

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 2012

The 2012 draft
Rd 2Devon Still DTCincinnati Bengals
Rd 5Johnnie Troutman OGSan Diego Chargers
Rd 5Jack Crawford DEOakland Raiders
Rd 7Nathan Stupar OLBOakland Raiders

Roster 117

The 2011 roster

117 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2011 line; 43 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2011 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2011 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State7–⁠111–⁠311
Michigan6–⁠211–⁠212
Wisconsin6–⁠211–⁠310
Penn State6–⁠29–⁠4
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠424
Iowa4–⁠47–⁠6
Purdue4–⁠47–⁠6
Ohio State3–⁠56–⁠7
Northwestern3–⁠56–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠67–⁠6
Minnesota2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana0–⁠81–⁠11

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