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2016 Penn State

11–⁠3 (8–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by James Franklin, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2016, game by game: won vs. Kent State 33–13; lost at Pittsburgh 39–42; won vs. Temple 34–27; lost at No. 4 Michigan 10–49; won vs. Minnesota 29–26; won vs. Maryland 38–14; won vs. No. 2 Ohio State 24–21; won at Purdue 62–24; won vs. Iowa 41–14; won at Indiana 45–31; won at Rutgers 39–0; won vs. Michigan State 45–12; won vs. No. 6 Wisconsin 38–31; lost vs. No. 9 USC 49–52+39−39Won 33–13 vs. Kent State+20Kent StateLost 39–42 at Pittsburgh-3PittsburghWon 34–27 vs. Temple+7TempleLost 10–49 at No. 4 Michigan-39No. 4 MichiganWon 29–26 vs. Minnesota+3MinnesotaWon 38–14 vs. Maryland+24MarylandWon 24–21 vs. No. 2 Ohio State+3No. 2 Ohio StateWon 62–24 at Purdue+38PurdueWon 41–14 vs. Iowa+27IowaWon 45–31 at Indiana+14IndianaWon 39–0 at Rutgers+39RutgersWon 45–12 vs. Michigan State+33Michigan StateWon 38–31 vs. No. 6 Wisconsin+7No. 6 WisconsinLost 49–52 vs. No. 9 USC-3No. 9 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsKent StateW 33–⁠1377%
Sep 10atPittsburghL 39–⁠4240%
Sep 17vsTempleW 34–⁠2760%
Sep 24at4MichiganL 10–⁠4928%
Oct 1vsMinnesotaW 29–⁠2654%
Oct 8vsMarylandW 38–⁠1460%
Oct 22vs2Ohio StateW 24–⁠2124%
Oct 29atPurdueW 62–⁠2470%
Nov 5vsIowaW 41–⁠1457%
Nov 12atIndianaW 45–⁠3159%
Nov 19atRutgersW 39–⁠081%
Nov 26vsMichigan StateW 45–⁠1277%
Dec 3vs6WisconsinBig Ten Championship GameW 38–⁠3140%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs9USCRose BowlL 49–⁠5244%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to USC 52–⁠49 in the Rose Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 36th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

Big Ten champions8–⁠1 in the conference, won the Big Ten Championship Game

Record
11–⁠3
Conference
8–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 5
Points
526–⁠356
Coach
James Franklin
Elo
1696 +171 this season
SP+ rating
19.0 No. 11 of 128; offense No. 23, defense No. 25, special teams No. 10
SRS
15.2 No. 12 of 128 in FBS
Returning
65% of last season’s EPA, No. 69 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 20 roster talent No. 20 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Joe Moorhead
Defensive coordinators
Brent Pry and Tim Banks
Captains
Brandon Bell, Brian Gaia and Von Walker
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense29th of 128
  • Defense35th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted27th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted35th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1744%1.3529th of 128
Defense0.0540%1.2335th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.18 off
0.05 def		46% off
39% def		—27th off
35th 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
Offense4.1own 3317% allowed
Defense3.4own 2818% caused

CORE rating 11.1, 20th of 128 (offense 5.6, defense -5.6).

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. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsTrace McSorley QB3,614 yds
Passing touchdownsTrace McSorley QB29 TD
Rushing yardsSaquon Barkley RB1,496 yds
Rushing touchdownsSaquon Barkley RB18 TD
Receiving yardsChris Godwin WR982 yds
Receiving touchdownsChris Godwin WR11 TD
TacklesMarcus Allen S110 tkl
SacksEvan Schwan DE6 sacks
InterceptionsBrandon Bell LB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2016 class

Miles Sanders RB★★★★★No. 21
Michal Menet OG★★★★No. 28
Shane Simmons WDE★★★★No. 41
Ellison Jordan DT★★★★No. 180
Connor McGovern OC★★★★No. 259
Daniel Joseph SDE★★★★No. 268
Cam Brown OLB★★★★No. 309
Zech McPhearson CB★★★★No. 322

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

The 2016 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks22.50.823
Running backs15.00.986
Receivers23.00.852
Offensive line43.50.907
Defensive line53.60.899
Linebackers14.00.897
Defensive backs23.50.861
Athletes and specialists23.00.838
Whole class193.40.882

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 2017

The 2017 draft
Rd 3Chris Godwin WRTampa Bay Buccaneers

Roster 111

The 2016 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2016 line; 63 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2016 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2016 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠111–⁠26
Penn State8–⁠111–⁠37
Wisconsin7–⁠211–⁠39
Michigan7–⁠210–⁠310
Nebraska6–⁠39–⁠4
Iowa6–⁠38–⁠5
Minnesota5–⁠49–⁠4
Northwestern5–⁠47–⁠6
Indiana4–⁠56–⁠7
Maryland3–⁠66–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠73–⁠9
Michigan State1–⁠83–⁠9
Purdue1–⁠83–⁠9
Rutgers0–⁠92–⁠10

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