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2015 Penn State

7–⁠6 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by James Franklin.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2015, game by game: lost at Temple 10–27; won vs. Buffalo 27–14; won vs. Rutgers 28–3; won vs. San Diego State 37–21; won vs. Army 20–14; won vs. Indiana 29–7; lost at No. 1 Ohio State 10–38; won vs. Maryland 31–30; won vs. Illinois 39–0; lost at Northwestern 21–23; lost vs. No. 14 Michigan 16–28; lost at No. 6 Michigan State 16–55; lost vs. Georgia 17–24+39−39Lost 10–27 at Temple-17TempleWon 27–14 vs. Buffalo+13BuffaloWon 28–3 vs. Rutgers+25RutgersWon 37–21 vs. San Diego State+16San Diego StateWon 20–14 vs. Army+6ArmyWon 29–7 vs. Indiana+22IndianaLost 10–38 at No. 1 Ohio State-28No. 1 Ohio StateWon 31–30 vs. Maryland+1MarylandWon 39–0 vs. Illinois+39IllinoisLost 21–23 at Northwestern-2NorthwesternLost 16–28 vs. No. 14 Michigan-12No. 14 MichiganLost 16–55 at No. 6 Michigan State-39No. 6 Michigan StateLost 17–24 vs. Georgia-7Georgia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5atTempleL 10–⁠2747%
Sep 12vsBuffaloW 27–⁠1461%
Sep 19vsRutgersW 28–⁠357%
Sep 26vsSan Diego StateW 37–⁠2167%
Oct 3vsArmyW 20–⁠1478%
Oct 10vsIndianaW 29–⁠767%
Oct 17at1Ohio StateL 10–⁠3817%
Oct 24vsMarylandW 31–⁠3068%
Oct 31vsIllinoisW 39–⁠073%
Nov 7atNorthwesternL 21–⁠2349%
Nov 21vs14MichiganL 16–⁠2849%
Nov 28at6Michigan StateL 16–⁠5518%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsGeorgiaTaxSlayer BowlL 17–⁠2432%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia 24–⁠17 in the TaxSlayer Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 100th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

Lombardi AwardCarl Nassib, DE; also the Hendricks

Consensus All-AmericanCarl Nassib, DE

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠4 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
301–⁠284
Coach
James Franklin
Elo
1538 +18 this season
SP+ rating
11.3 No. 32 of 128; offense No. 71, defense No. 15, special teams No. 11
SRS
4.7 No. 53 of 128 in FBS
Returning
75% of last season’s EPA, No. 40 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 14 roster talent No. 21 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
John Donovan
Defensive coordinator
Bob Shoop
Captains
Christian Hackenberg, Jordan Lucas, Angelo Mangiro, Von Walker and Anthony Zettel
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense92nd of 128
  • Defense22nd of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted73rd of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted27th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0338%1.3092nd of 128
Defense-0.0138%1.2022nd of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.07 off
0.02 def		40% off
39% def		—73rd 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
Offense3.1own 322% allowed
Defense3.0own 312% 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 yardsChristian Hackenberg QB2,525 yds
Passing touchdownsChristian Hackenberg QB16 TD
Rushing yardsSaquon Barkley RB1,076 yds
Rushing touchdownsSaquon Barkley RB7 TD
Receiving yardsChris Godwin WR1,101 yds
Receiving touchdownsDaeSean Hamilton WR6 TD
InterceptionsGrant Haley CB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Saquon Barkley RB★★★★No. 119
John Reid CB★★★★No. 124
Garrett Taylor CB★★★★No. 125
Juwan Johnson WR★★★★No. 128
Ryan Bates OT★★★★No. 161
Sterling Jenkins OT★★★★No. 211
Kamonte Carter ATH★★★★No. 241
Ryan Buchholz SDE★★★★No. 246

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs24.00.926
Receivers34.00.913
Offensive line34.00.912
Defensive line23.50.880
Linebackers14.00.907
Defensive backs24.00.944
Athletes and specialists23.50.895
Whole class153.90.912

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 2016

The 2016 draft
Rd 2Austin Johnson DTTennessee Titans
Rd 2Christian Hackenberg QBNew York Jets
Rd 3Carl Nassib DECleveland Browns
Rd 6Anthony Zettel DEDetroit Lions
Rd 6Jordan Lucas SMiami Dolphins

Roster 126

The 2015 roster

126 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 34 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2015 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2015 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Iowa8–⁠012–⁠29
Ohio State7–⁠112–⁠14
Michigan State7–⁠112–⁠26
Northwestern6–⁠210–⁠323
Wisconsin6–⁠210–⁠321
Michigan6–⁠210–⁠312
Penn State4–⁠47–⁠6
Nebraska3–⁠56–⁠7
Minnesota2–⁠66–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠66–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠65–⁠7
Rutgers1–⁠74–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠73–⁠9
Purdue1–⁠72–⁠10

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