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2018 Penn State

9–⁠4 (6–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by James Franklin, finished No. 17 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Penn State in 2018, game by game: won vs. App State 45–38; won at Pittsburgh 51–6; won vs. Kent State 63–10; won at Illinois 63–24; lost vs. No. 4 Ohio State 26–27; lost vs. Michigan State 17–21; won at Indiana 33–28; won vs. No. 18 Iowa 30–24; lost at No. 5 Michigan 7–42; won vs. Wisconsin 22–10; won at Rutgers 20–7; won vs. Maryland 38–3; lost vs. No. 16 Kentucky 24–27+53−35Won 45–38 vs. App State+7App StateWon 51–6 at Pittsburgh+45PittsburghWon 63–10 vs. Kent State+53Kent StateWon 63–24 at Illinois+39IllinoisLost 26–27 vs. No. 4 Ohio State-1No. 4 Ohio StateLost 17–21 vs. Michigan State-4Michigan StateWon 33–28 at Indiana+5IndianaWon 30–24 vs. No. 18 Iowa+6No. 18 IowaLost 7–42 at No. 5 Michigan-35No. 5 MichiganWon 22–10 vs. Wisconsin+12WisconsinWon 20–7 at Rutgers+13RutgersWon 38–3 vs. Maryland+35MarylandLost 24–27 vs. No. 16 Kentucky-3No. 16 Kentucky
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsApp StateW 45–⁠3869%
Sep 8atPittsburghW 51–⁠664%
Sep 15vsKent StateW 63–⁠1092%
Sep 21atIllinoisW 63–⁠2482%
Sep 29vs4Ohio StateL 26–⁠2756%
Oct 13vsMichigan StateL 17–⁠2175%
Oct 20atIndianaW 33–⁠2870%
Oct 27vs18IowaW 30–⁠2463%
Nov 3at5MichiganL 7–⁠4243%
Nov 10vsWisconsinW 22–⁠1061%
Nov 17atRutgersW 20–⁠789%
Nov 24vsMarylandW 38–⁠385%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs16KentuckyCitrus BowlL 24–⁠2767%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Kentucky 27–⁠24 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 17 in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The tied 29th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 139 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 10
  2. Wk 2: 13
  3. Wk 3: 11
  4. Wk 4: 10
  5. Wk 5: 9
  6. Wk 6: 11
  7. Wk 7: 8
  8. Wk 8: 18
  9. Wk 9: 17
  10. Wk 10: 14
  11. Wk 11: 21
  12. Wk 12: 16
  13. Wk 13: 15
  14. Wk 14: 14
  15. Wk 15: 13
  16. Final: 17
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠3 4th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 17 peak No. 8
Points
439–⁠267
Coach
James Franklin
Elo
1707 +29 this season
SP+ rating
19.0 No. 15 of 130; offense No. 35, defense No. 11, special teams No. 76
SRS
12.9 No. 17 of 130 in FBS
Returning
59% of last season’s EPA, No. 78 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 6 roster talent No. 12 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Ricky Rahne
Defensive coordinators
Brent Pry and Tim Banks
Captains
Trace McSorley, Blake Gillikin and Nick Scott
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense54th of 130
  • Defense15th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted40th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted19th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1245%1.1754th of 130
Defense-0.0138%1.1615th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.14 off
0.00 def		46% off
38% def		—40th 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
Offense4.1own 3116% allowed
Defense2.9own 2720% caused

CORE rating 10.5, 23rd of 130 (offense 2.2, defense -8.3).

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 QB2,513 yds
Passing touchdownsTrace McSorley QB18 TD
Rushing yardsMiles Sanders RB1,271 yds
Rushing touchdownsTrace McSorley QB12 TD
Receiving yardsK.J. Hamler WR755 yds
Receiving touchdownsPat Freiermuth TE8 TD
TacklesMicah Parsons LB83 tkl
SacksShareef Miller DE8 sacks
InterceptionsAmani Oruwariye CB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Micah Parsons WDE★★★★★No. 5
Justin Shorter WR★★★★★No. 8
Ricky Slade APB★★★★★No. 27
Rasheed Walker OT★★★★No. 65
Odafe Oweh SDE★★★★No. 76
P.J. Mustipher DT★★★★No. 78
Nana Asiedu OT★★★★No. 116
Zack Kuntz TE★★★★No. 150

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

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.869
Running backs15.00.985
Receivers54.20.935
Offensive line43.80.925
Defensive line53.80.938
Linebackers33.70.897
Defensive backs33.30.887
Athletes and specialists13.00.819
Whole class233.80.917

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 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 2Miles Sanders RBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 3Connor McGovern OGDallas Cowboys
Rd 4Shareef Miller DEPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5Amani Oruwariye CBDetroit Lions
Rd 6Trace McSorley QBBaltimore Ravens
Rd 7Nick Scott SLos Angeles Rams

Roster 115

The 2018 roster

115 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 68 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2018 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2018 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠113–⁠13
Michigan8–⁠110–⁠314
Northwestern8–⁠19–⁠521
Penn State6–⁠39–⁠417
Iowa5–⁠49–⁠425
Wisconsin5–⁠48–⁠5
Michigan State5–⁠47–⁠6
Purdue5–⁠46–⁠7
Minnesota3–⁠67–⁠6
Maryland3–⁠65–⁠7
Nebraska3–⁠64–⁠8
Indiana2–⁠75–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠74–⁠8
Rutgers0–⁠91–⁠11

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